Town’s only jeweller’s is to close

FORT William’s only jeweller is to close down in the next couple of months.

David Martin, who has been running his shop and repair service in the town for 28 years, says he plans to close the shop by the end of June.

Mr Martin has said it will be ‘a bit of a wrench giving it up’ but he feels he has no choice as he has lost so much business since the west end of the High Street was redeveloped in 2010 as part of a Routes West project.

He said: ‘It’s demoralising when you had a good business for 20- odd years and then trade goes through the floor.’

The redevelopment, which Mr Martin described as ‘ridiculous’, was planned to make the town centre ‘easier to access and use’, according to Alex Neil, who was the Scottish government’s minister for housing and communities at the time.

Mr Martin also claims there was no consultation with West End businesses and that he was simply sent a letter stating the plans for the redevelopment.

At the time this was happening, Mr Martin was experiencing health issues which prevented him from being able to express his concerns. Had this not been the case, he says, he would have ‘fought tooth and nail to stop it’.

His objection was to the relocation of the pedestrian crossing from outside his shop, which meant people were directed straight down the High Street and did not pass his premises any more.

Also, the railings on the corner of the High Street and Middle Street were shortened to allow for the new crossing, where before they were all along the full stretch of road, which had again directed people past Mr Martin’s shop door.

The pavement was also widened further up the High Street, which meant fewer tour coaches stopping at that end of the street.

Mr Martin will continue to repair clocks from his home once the shop has closed.

A spokesperson for Highland Council said: ‘We carried out before and after footfall counts which show footfall to the West End has almost doubled.

‘In addition, four new national outlets opened in the immediate area which the developer attributed to the creation of the Square. All of these have contributed to footfall at Gordon Square.’