Ian Yuill

Liberal Democrat councillor for Mannofield, Airyhall, Braeside, Broomhill, Garthdee, Kaimhill and Ruthrieston Learn more

NEWS RELEASE : John Lewis closure will ‘tear a hole in the heart of Aberdeen’

by Ian Yuill on 24 March, 2021

Liberal Democrats in Aberdeen are calling on people and organisations across our city to work together to rebuild Aberdeen’s city centre following the announcement by John Lewis that it is closing its Aberdeen store.

Commenting on the closure announcement , Ian Yuill, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Aberdeen City Council, said, “This is a terrible blow for the people employed by John Lewis and for our city centre. The closure of John Lewis will tear a hole in the heart of Aberdeen.

“There must be an end to petty political point scoring in Aberdeen. Political parties, city organisations, businesses and residents must work together to rebuild and rejuvinate the heart of our city.

“My Liberal Democrat colleagues and I are committed to doing just that.”

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   5 Comments

5 Responses

  1. Debbie Downie says:

    Hi Ian. Your right with the closure of John Lewis there will be nothing left in Aberdeen City centre. Glasgow here I come. What I save on bus fares by having a bus pass pays a night in the premier inn. Very sad. Debbie Downie

  2. Steve Leyton says:

    The LibDebs,ConsUnionists,Labour organisations must seriously activate a Coalition government,councils.another 13 years of Messers Salmond, Sturgeon is a race to the bottom. God help Scotland and us all then.

  3. David says:

    Unfortunately the huge American corporations are destroying our towns and cities by offering online prices that normal retail can never compete with. Their policy of discounting and never making a profit is deliberate because it has the double benefit for them of sucking in the consumer while at the same time paying little or no tax. Every time we use these mega shops and services we remove money from our towns and cities. Their monopoly now seems to be reaching the goal of total dominance where they will be almost the only option to purchase anything. Until governments take action to ensure that rent rates and all forms of taxation are paid fairly the demise of our high streets is inevitable. This doesn’t mean to say that online purchases are all bad. Just choose the retailer carefully, make sure that your money doesn’t depart from your locality or country and then, perhaps, we may see our towns and cities survive and grow. The search engines unfortunately are also liable as the mega corporations also choose who to put at the top of results. JL could also have done better with this. Search for beds, tv, computer, sofa etc etc and they don’t appear in local search results. So maybe many people who don’t often shop at JL simply buy elsewhere because their search highlights other shops.

  4. Linda says:

    I’d just like to know at the city council did, if anything, to fight for them to stay…? Do we still have an economic development department, what are they doing?!?

    • Ian Yuill says:

      The council has a City Growth Service which is responsible for economic development.

      TSB is closing several branches in Aberdeen because it wishes to cut costs. These closures will hit Mannofield and other communities but, as the bank is a private business, there is effectively nothing the council can do.

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