Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
MP concerned by post office outlet closure
MORE than 20 jobs are to be lost at three prominent shop branches, including stores in Perth and Glenrothes.
Question marks continue to hang over several other RS McColl outlets.
The retailer, which currently operates more than 1,400 stores, has previously revealed plans to shut 330 shops in the next three to four years as it focuses its activities in the food convenience market.
Its store on Perth High Street will close for good on October 4, with the unit having been put up for sale.
Shops at the Glamis Centre in Glenrothes and in Carntynehall Road in Glasgow will cease trading on October 16.
The Glenrothes shop change will also see the post office there closed, a move which is expected to leave the Pitteuchar area of town without a counter for a considerable time.
The news is the latest blow to Perth High Street, which has seen a series of prominent stores leave.
A spokesman for McColl’s said: “We are saddened to no longer be operating the stores and our priority has been to support all affected colleagues.”
Following chief execu tive Jonathan Miller’s pledge to reduce the company’s estate to an “optimal size” of 1,100 earlier this year, more store closures are likely.
Rumours in Glenrothes suggest the Cadham Centre branch is also one of those being considered for closure but the company has neither confirmed nor denied that.
Glenrothes MP Peter Grant said he is looking into the issue and hopes other premises will be found for the Pitteuchar post office.
“This is the fourth post office in the constituency that has been closed since March, raising serious concerns about the future of our local services,” he said.
A spokesman for the Post Office confirmed: “We would welcome any applications from potential retail partners interested in running a branch locally on our behalf.”
THE owner of a Dundee wedding venue has refunded thousands of pounds to couples who had their ceremonies cancelled.
The Tele previously reported how would-be brides and grooms have been locked in a stalemate with the Taypark House hotel on Perth Road for months, after learning their ceremonies would not be going ahead the way they had planned due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Hotel owner Richie Hawkins has since confirmed the hotel will now be paying compensation to couples.
In a statement, he said: “For those couples where their wedding insurance has not agreed to pay out, we have offered a full refund.
“Additionally, for those couples who did not take out wedding insurance we have also offered a full refund to them where their wedding could not proceed as planned due to ongoing government restrictions.
“At the outset we were assured that insurance companies would eventually pay out to cover the losses caused by not being able to proceed due to coronavirus.
“However, it is now clear that some insurance companies, including our own comprehensive insurance policy, have not been paying out as they should.
“We personally, as a family and as a business, feel awful for all those couples who have been impacted.
“We have relied entirely on professional advice throughout, at times against our own personal judgment and feelings about these problems.”
Since learning that they will receive their money back, some of the couples have said they are relieved at the end of “months of stress and worry”.
Kerry Drysdale, from Dundee, who was one of the first brides to speak to the Tele about the compensation row, said: “It’s good to finally get our money back but I understand that the latest government legislation meant he had to do this.
“This caused us a huge amount of stress and worry and now we reckon it will be another two years before we can get married.”
Another bride, who did not wish to be named, said: “We find it incredibly frustrating that after all these months of stress and worry Richie Hawkins has finally accepted that we ought to be refunded.
Another couple said: “We are glad to finally be getting our money back but this has caused us so much stress that we have become unwell.”