Newton Mearns jewellers closes after 45 years

The Eric N Smith jewellers in Glasgow will be closing its doors in April 2018 after attempts to find a buyer for business fell through.

Owners Eric and Yvonne Smith told the the Herald Scotland that the difficulty in finding a buyer was because “Yvonne and I are the business”, people came to the store for that reason and “that’s a really hard thing to sell”.

“We came to realise it was easier to close than convince somebody to buy it. One particular company wanted a two-and-a-half-year buyout, where we didn’t really get to retire. We would have had to keep working with this other partnership, and that didn’t really appeal to us either,” he added.

The decision will mean the store’s nine staff will be made redundant.

Smith and his wife will be helping the staff affected, some of whom have worked for the business for 35 years, to find alternative roles. Some may move into jewellery manufacturing, while another is hoping to land a role as a watch specialist with another firm. One member of staff plans to retire.

Smith said: “It’s been unbelievable, because the people we have been telling are very sad about it. They are happy for us, but they are very sad about it closing.

“We’ve made a lot of friends so there has been a quite a bit of emotion [for us] and the staff, because obviously they have been a loyal team for such a long time. We have had our ups and downs in the last few days I have to say.”