Sadness as Marina Salon in East Kilbride enters liquidation

Stylists at Marina Salon, which has been operating for more than 50 years in East Kilbride, say they were stunned to receive a call from bosses on Easter Sunday informing them that their employment was ending with one week’s notice.

They also claim that when they went to work a few days later and they were shocked to discover the shop had been cleared out.

One source told the Glasgow Times: “No-one saw this coming and there was no indication whatsoever prior to this that the business would close.  As one of the oldest hairdressers in the town, Marina was always busy with a list of regular clients. We were pretty much fully booked day in, and day out, so to receive a call to say it was closing and we were out of work was soul-destroying.

“To make matters worse we were given just one week’s notice, and when we arrived at the salon after the Easter bank holiday everything was gone.”

The empty salon (Image: Gordon Terris)

Our source said staff have been rocked by the blow, with some now struggling to make ends meet and find employment.

They added: “We were paid our wages in full and what we were due, but the money doesn't last long once the bills are paid.  It was such a great place to work, everyone got on well. I just can’t believe what has happened, I spent two days in bed crying because I was so upset and stressed about losing my only source of income. I’ve got a family to support and now I’m left trying to juggle everything. There's no way people who worked hard for the business should have been treated like this, we all deserve better."

Marina Salon first opened in 1973 and had the same owner until 2020, when stylist Gavin Jones and his business partner took the helm.

One beauty specialist who worked in the shop says she lost around £800 in bookings as a result of the sudden closure.

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The 21-year-old told the Glasgow Times: “No-one could believe that such a successful business with a busy client list was closing completely out of the blue.  I’m self-employed and I’m now hundreds of pounds out of pocket.

“My clients are shocked; people still can’t quite believe Marina is gone for good as it’s been here for so long. It has caused a lot of heartache for everyone as we need to find new jobs. People have bills to pay and food to put on the table. It’s just an awful way to treat decent, hard-working folk.”

Marina Salon was based at Centre West, East Kilbride (Image: Gordon Terris)

The Glasgow Times reached out to Mr Jones, who has apologised to staff for the short notice period invoked. He says he acted in line with the usual practices of a business going into liquidation and insists all staff were fully paid. The businessman says he had 'no other choice' but to liquidate due to personal reasons.

He added: “I took over the hairdressers three years ago during the pandemic, I put my heart and soul into making it the very best it could be. However, I’ve been struggling personally, and after regularly working 12-hour days, I reached a point where it was impacting my mental health. After much consideration, I took the difficult decision to close. I had to think of my health and the impact managing such a busy salon was taking on me.

“I hold my hands up and admit that the mixture of self-employed and employed staff could have been given more notice, I can only apologise for that, but it was just the way it worked out."

Mr Jones says he always tried to put his staff first while running the business.
He added: “I’ve always done my best for everyone at the salon, I bent over backwards to make it a success. I’m not a bad person, I’m a good person, but I just couldn’t take the strain any longer. I wish things had been different and I’m sorry it ended this way.”

Gavin’s business partner, who asked not to be named, insisted that everyone at the salon was paid notice and redundancy pay in line with HMRC rules.

He added: “The notice we gave was in line with usual practices. Those who were self-employed were not due anything, nor did they have contracts with Marina Salon.

“It’s a shame we had to close due to Gavin’s deteriorating health, which was partly due to the unavailability of reliable staff and extremely high overheads.”