Rockport closes
THE Rockport Hotel in Oban has closed with the loss of five full-time jobs. The business, known locally as the Woody, is on the market.
OBAN’S Rockport Hotel has closed with the loss of five jobs.
The blue, three-storey townhouse on Tweeddale Street, formerly called the Woodside Hotel or ‘The Woody’, was reopened by owner Gerry Ritchie in 2015 after a six-month refurbishment.
Legendary ex-Scotland, Liverpool and Rangers star Graeme Souness even dropped in to Oban to see Gerry, his old pal, at its official opening.
The establishment, comprising eight en-suite bedrooms, the Boathouse Restaurant and the popular Woody Bar, employed five full-time staff.
The Rockport’s former manager, Collette Lafferty, said the owner called her and the other staff to a meeting on Saturday September 23 to give them all their wages and tell them he was ‘calling it a day’.
‘Its really, really sad,’ she said. ‘It is part of Oban. It goes back years and years. My father used to drink in it. The craic was good. It was a great venue for a party. Hopefully, someone will buy it and open it again.
‘I was very sad. I loved my wee job there. I have worked all my life in bars and hotels. The others have all got jobs but I am finding it difficult because I have children. You are paying a child minder the same as wage as you. It is really hard.’
Cornerstone Business Agents advertised the Rockport for sale on its Facebook page on September 20, offered for a £30,000 leasehold or £350,000 freehold, and later that week the hotel was registered as permanently closed on its own Facebook page on September 24.
Cornerstone Business Agents states on its website: ‘The current owner has now owned the property for approximately three years and carried out a full re-fit during his first year of ownership.
‘However, he has been unable to dedicate the amount of time required to push the business and take advantage of its wonderful location and facilities on offer.’