logo
Spirit of Alba announces shock closure with 'heavy heart'

Spirit of Alba announces shock closure with 'heavy heart'

Glasgow Times7 days ago

Spirit of Alba, an award-winning specialist spirits store in Kirkintilloch, took to Facebook to announce that due to increasingly difficult trading conditions in retail, the dramatic increase in utility prices and the cost of living crisis, it is impossible for them to continue.
READ NEXT: Football fans warned ahead of Scotland v Iceland at Hampden Park
Taking to social media, Spirit of Alba staff said: "It is with a heavy heart that we must announce the closure of Spirit of Alba. It has been a pleasure to serve everyone over the last five years since we opened in 2020.
"Sadly, increasingly difficult trading conditions in retail, the dramatic increase in utility prices and the cost of living crisis have made it impossible to continue. This decision has come at great personal cost, but it is with heartfelt appreciation for your support and custom during these challenging years."
They went on to say that they are currently engaging with professionals to work out the formal closure of the shop and the Spirit of Alba Festival.
They then thanked everyone for being part of the Spirit of Alba experience.
The retailer's website now says that Spirit of Alba has ceased trading.
READ NEXT: Planning application submitted for new takeaway
People were quick to share their sadness over the news.
One person said: "Gutted for you. I've thoroughly enjoyed all my visits and chats over the last few years - you have given us great advice and have broadened my understanding and more importantly my enjoyment of whisky. Wishing you every blessing for your future."
Another said: "So sorry to hear this, yet another loss to our community."
A third person added: "So sorry to read this. You guys have put your heart, soul and hard earned cash in to this great venture. I hope to cross paths again at some point."
Meanwhile, a fourth person added: "Cracking shop with great customer knowledge. Will be sadly missed."

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Jetstar Asia to cease operations on July 31 – here's how it impacts you
Jetstar Asia to cease operations on July 31 – here's how it impacts you

Time Out

time5 hours ago

  • Time Out

Jetstar Asia to cease operations on July 31 – here's how it impacts you

Like a bolt from the blue, Jetstar Asia announced today that it will permanently cease operations as of July 31. In a Facebook post, the airline stated that Jetstar Asia's (3K) flights will continue to operate on a progressively reduced schedule for the next seven weeks until its closure. This may be alarming news for those with scheduled flights on Jetstar Asia. Is your route affected? Can you get a refund for existing tickets? Here's all you need to know about how Jetstar Asia's closure will impact you. Why is Jetstar Asia closing? In a press release published today, parent company Qantas Group stated that the closure of Jetstar Asia is due to "rising supplier costs, high airport fees, and intensified competition in the region, [which have] challenged the low-cost airline's ability to deliver returns comparable to the stronger performing core markets in the Group." Qantas says it's expected to post a $35 million underlying loss in earnings before interest and taxes this financial year, prompting it and its majority shareholder, Westbrook Investments, to close the airline. Jetstar Asia's closure will unlock up to $500 million in fleet capital, which will be funnelled into Qantas Group's core businesses. Which routes are affected? 16 intra-Asia routes operated from its Singapore base will be impacted by the closure of Jetstar Asia. According to The Straits Times, these are the flights between Asian countries currently operated by Jetstar: Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Penang Singapore to Jakarta, Bali, Medan and Surabaya Singapore to Bangkok, Krabi and Phuket Singapore to Manila Singapore to Wuxi Singapore to Okinawa Singapore to Colombo Jetstar Airways' domestic and international flights in Australia and New Zealand (JQ flight codes), as well as those operated by Jetstar Japan (GK flight codes), remain unaffected. Jetstar Airways will continue to fly from Australia to Asia and its popular destinations, including Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, and South Korea. What happens to my existing flight ticket? Customers with existing bookings on flights after July 31 will be offered full cash refunds. The Group has also stated that it will look to reaccommodate customers onto other airlines where possible. What about my Jetstar vouchers? Similarly, those with Jetstar vouchers still valid after Jetstar Asia's closure on June 11 will be contacted in August for cash refunds. What are the alternative low-cost airlines in the region? Jetstar Asia's closure is a loss for customers, who now have fewer lower-cost options in the region. Nevertheless, alternatives exist – check out Scoot, which currently flies to over 70 destinations, and AirAsia, which has tons of affordable flights to cities across Asia.

Spending Review: Shaping Scotland's priorities for years to come
Spending Review: Shaping Scotland's priorities for years to come

BBC News

time10 hours ago

  • BBC News

Spending Review: Shaping Scotland's priorities for years to come

Increased spending for Scotland on defence, computing and the development of carbon-capture technology have been promised in the chancellor's Spending Reeves has found £250m for the Royal Navy's nuclear submarine base on the Clyde, £750m to bring the most powerful supercomputer in the UK to Edinburgh, and funding for the Acorn Project in St Fergus. Acorn would take greenhouse gas emissions and store them under the North Sea, in a process known as carbon capture and storage (CCS).The news comes as Reeves announces the budgets for all UK government departments over the next few years. Getting the review right is a tricky balancing can see ways that public funds could be used more efficiently or even cut. Everyone has their top priority for spending what happens if there's a root and branch review, with every spending line scrutinised, new priorities set and given more funds and others squeezed or cut?We should find out later. But it may not be as radical a review as sometimes presented as too much is already committed by contract or by government manifesto to make really radical changes. What spending is being reviewed? The clue is in the name. This is not about taxation, and it's not about balancing the books. That's for the Budget, and one of them is expected in autumn, to cover review takes the spending totals already set by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), and chooses how to allocate the day-to-day spending (also known as current or revenue spending) for the next three financial also plans capital spending for four years on projects with a lifespan beyond the year, such as includes the spending in Scotland by Whitehall departments, such as work and pensions and defence. It does not include funds spent by Holyrood. How tight will it be for day-to-day spending? We already know, at least roughly, the total numbers the chancellor has to allocate. The increase in day-to-day spending is an average 1.2% per year over the three years to funds have been front-loaded by the Labour government. In other words, most of the extra spending it gets from big tax increases on business and the wealthy are being used to lift spending in its first two years. Then it gets every department were to retain the same share (which would suggest the review effort has been wasted), it would get the average we already know the defence budget is getting a significant lift, to confront growing challenges and new types of warfare. We also know the NHS requires more than a standstill budget to meet rising demands on it. And the Westminster government has committed to increasing the amount of childcare it provides. That implies an estimated cut of 1.3% in real terms for other items of government and justice have taken the brunt of such cuts in the five spending reviews since they started 27 years ago, though not in the one-year spending review carried out last big question about such cuts is whether they mean a reduced level of provision, or a challenge to get at least the current level of public service out of less sector productivity has gone backwards since the pandemic. There's a need and a big challenge to reverse that and it may need some spending to help the process happen, with perhaps more use of technology to replace civil servants. What's available for the longer term? Capital spending looks in an easier position, not least because Rachel Reeves' spending constraints allow her to borrow for that. She aims to match day-to-day spending with tax revenue, so it should not be funded by recent days, we have seen announcements to fund capital projects for defence, transport in the north of England and a large nuclear power station in capture and storage projects, to trap greenhouse gases, include the Acorn Project in a promise to spend "an initial £250m" over three years on the Clyde submarine base, "supporting jobs, skills and growth across the west of Scotland".A lot of the allocations are being attached to the government's top priority of economic growth, with an emphasis on spreading funds around the UK. Some of this spending precedes the announcement of an industrial strategy, in which the UK government intends to give added backing to industries of strategic importance such as steel, or those with the most growth potential, so there's lots about science and why Spending Review day starts with a further preview of the review: Edinburgh University is to get £750m allocated to a new super-computer, which is billed as the most powerful in the UK, and among the most powerful in the world. It will be available for research into numerous projects such as personalised medicine, sustainable air travel or climate reinstates a project that was cancelled last summer by Rachel Reeves, because it had not been funded by the outgoing Conservative government. What decisions will directly affect Scotland? Much of the state pensions and welfare budget is distributed throughout the UK by the department for work and pensions. But that share has been falling as Holyrood takes on devolved to universal credit would be felt in Scotland. That includes changes to the two-child limit on state pension's triple lock of at least the rate of average pay increase, of price inflation or 2.5%, is being retained and that also covers there are cuts in civil service numbers, that could apply to those who work in Scotland for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, for HM Revenue and Customs and for the Department of Work and there is also a plan to push many more civil service jobs out of London, so there could be gains for Scotland from relocations. How will this affect Holyrood's budget? Many of the changes in day-to-day spending, or capital spending on transport for instance, directly affect other parts of the UK, and in some cases only formula for spending should then apply a share of that change to the block grant passed from the Treasury to Holyrood – whether an increased share or a proportionate the health service gets a boost, above the rate of increase in other departments, that will be a positive for Holyrood as well. But if justice takes a hit, a proportionate share of that will be passed on to Scottish will then be free to allocate the block grant as they wish, so they can pass on the health spending at the same rate as England, or apply that money to another recent years, more and more spending has gone into the new Holyrood welfare budget, so that £1.5bn is being spent each year on making welfare more generous than in the rest of the of that has been to mitigate decisions taken on welfare by the Westminster government. And there could be relatively good news for Holyrood from two decisions in the spending review which have already been the cut in pension-age Winter Fuel Allowance brings a share to Holyrood of the necessary funds to make that happen – somewhere around £125m. That eases the pressure on Shona Robison, Holyrood's finance secretary, as she decides how to use the resources she gets. And if Rachel Reeves follows through on the commitment to increase the level of state childcare support, that will also ease Holyrood's budget challenge, as it has already found funds to increase childcare. A share of that new-found money for England will be added to Holyrood's block grant, but need not be spent that Robison has put off decisions about her medium-term plans until she sees Rachel Reeves' spending review and the impact it has on Holyrood's day-to-day and capital Scottish finance secretary is due to update MSPs by the end of June on how she uses it, including a priority list of capital include high-profile road upgrades in the Highlands and Aberdeenshire, and the stalled programme for building NHS National Treatment faces competing demands to improve the buildings and IT in public services and, on the other hand, improving economic infrastructure such as roads and rail, with a more direct impact on economic also has the challenge of either cutting some public services or reforming them in such a way that they can be provided more spending review may be of major significance for public services for years to it may be replaced by annual budgets, as we've seen in the past, making different decisions depending on funds available and political announcement in the Commons later is only the start of the process of putting those funds to work.

Watchdog slams social media giants for dragging heels over online scam crackdown
Watchdog slams social media giants for dragging heels over online scam crackdown

Scottish Sun

time11 hours ago

  • Scottish Sun

Watchdog slams social media giants for dragging heels over online scam crackdown

Scroll on for more bad news for bank customers - as one giant confirms it's closing 55 branches Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SOCIAL media giants such as Meta must stop dragging their feet and tackle online fraud, the UK's financial watchdog says. Financial Conduct Authority boss Nikhil Rathi criticised tech firms for being too slow to remove harmful content. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 FCA boss Nikhil Rathi has hit out at tech giants for being too slow when removing harmful online content Credit: Houses of Parliament 4 Social media giants such as META have been told to stop dragging their feet and tackle online fraud Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Speaking to MPs, he urged companies to 'get on and do it' without waiting for further guidance. There is concern people are being fleeced by dodgy investments promoted by so-called 'finfluencers'. Last May, the watchdog charged nine suspects, including ex-Love Island and former The Only Way Is Essex stars, over a dubious online trading scheme promoted on social media. If convicted, they could face up to two years' jail. The trial is set for 2027. Consumer group Which? has also exposed a surge of misleading health adverts on Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram. These include false medical claims, fake endorsements and products that never arrive. One targeted diabetics with a fraudulent glucose monitor. Another promoted bee venom cream with bogus claims of medical approval. Mr Rathi said the FCA needs social media firms to cooperate to remove harmful content. Some are, but others are slow to act. The Online Safety Act should force platforms to remove illegal content. But Which? warned it could take until 2027 to fully implement. Facebook users bombarded with 'happy birthday posts' in bizarre glitch as people joke 'someone messed up' NATWEST SHUTS 55 MORE 4 NatWest will shut 55 more branches in the coming months, on top of 53 closures already announced for this year Credit: PA NATWEST is closing 55 more branches in the coming months, adding to 53 ­closures already planned this year. The move follows a shift towards online banking by customers. Since 2015, NatWest Group has shut more than 1,400 branches across the UK. NatWest said more than 80 per cent of current account holders now use digital banking. It plans to invest £20million to upgrade surviving branches and improve customer service. Pop-up services will support communities during 'branch transitions'. RENTALS COOL 4 Average rents for new leases rose 2.8% in April - from 6.4% recorded earlier in 2024 Credit: PA RENT rises have slowed to the lowest rate since the market was dealing with the impacts of the pandemic, figures show. Average rents for new leases in April increased by 2.8 per cent year-on-year, from the 6.4 per cent recorded in 2024. Average monthly rent is £1,287. Richard Donnell at property site ZOOPLA said: 'The average annual cost of renting is still over £2,500 higher than three years ago.' WATER BLOCK MILLIONS of households are being blocked from bill support due to a loophole in the WaterSure scheme. It helps the disabled and benefits claimants using lots of water, but requires a meter which many homes cannot install. Scope's Abdi Mohamed urged change, saying: 'Consumers cannot choose their supplier, and more needs to be done to ensure consistency and fairness.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store