A businessman has said he fears for the future of his 24 employees after his company lost out on buying a well-known Letterkenny Service Station.
Well-known Raphoe man Robert Spence has been operating the Mace Dry Arch Service station for the past five and a half years.
He has spent thousands of euro renovating and upkeeping the business after it went into receivership.
However Mr Spence and his staff and now been told they will have to vacate the premises on July 17th after the business was sold to another buyer.
The Donegal businessman said he now fears for the jobs of his staff – some of whom have been with him for many years.
Solicitors for the receiver Martin Ferris have written to Mr Spence telling him that the purchase of the property is “strictly on the basis of vacant possession.”
This means that the premises will have to be vacated for a certain period of time before the new owners take over.
Mr Spence said he fears that all his workers will lose their entitlements and may have to apply for their old jobs.
“I know my time has come and despite working hard to make this business a success for the last five years, I have been told I have to get out.
“I have to accept that as much as I do not like it. It’s business.
“But what I want to do is to ensure that the staff who have been loyal to me are looked after.
“These are people with mortgages and families. I genuinely fear for them and I think I have every reason to be fearful,” he said.
Mr Spence added that he does not have the heart to restock shelves and carry out necessary repairs knowing that he has until July 17th to get out of the premises.
He said he does not know who the new buyer is despite rumours that a large multi-national company are behind the bid.
“I genuinely thought I had outbid all other potential buyers. I have not worked on building up this business for the past five years for fun.
“But the bottom line is that the staff have to be looked after now. That’s all I want,” he said.
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