Food specialists Baxters is preparing to axe its shop and restaurant in Selkirk with the loss of 23 full and part-time jobs, writes Bob Burgess.
The company is also set to pull the plug on its showcase complex at Ocean Terminal in Leith. The Dunsdale Haugh premises in Selkirk is expected to go mid-February.
The proposed closures are a result of Baxters’ landlord wanting to sell the Eaglesgate Retail Village at Blackford near Tullibardine in Perthshire which is the Fochabar-based company’s retail headquarters. For the sale to go ahead the landlord needs vacant possession.
Baxters told us: “We can confirm it is the intention to close our Selkirk retail operation. It is likely to close early in 2014. As this site [Blackford] plays a central role in the management and administration of our retail division, its closure will, sadly, necessitate, the closure of our Selkirk outlet.
“The Board has evaluated various alternatives, but the costs involved do not make any of them viable.”
There’s a slim hope that if the Blackford sale falls through Selkirk might survive.
Baxters spent £1million converting the empty Selkirk Glass factory and opened its 8,300 square foot shop and restaurant in May 2008.