North Lands Creative glass studio in Lybster ceases trading – six staff lose jobs
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A Caithness creative glass studio with a well-founded international reputation has closed its doors with six staff members losing their jobs.
Three full-time and three part-time staff were told on July 31 that North Lands Creative in Lybster had "ceased trading" and were further informed, without any advance warning, that they had all lost their positions at the glass studio.
Programme executive Joanna Garrett said: "We were delivered the news by Carolyn Jones who is the chairperson of North Lands and told immediately to go home.
"We were told that the next thing we would hear would be from lawyers to see what position North Lands was in. We were told it had ceased trading and it wasn't a temporary closure."
Less than two months ago the centre announced that it had recently employed three new members of staff – Karlyn Sutherland, interim general manager; Eric Dahlberg, studio manager; and Rachel Weir, administrative support.
Though MS Garrett says that there had been no prior warning of the impending redundancies or that NLC would cease trading, on July 12 the creative hub posted a statement on its website saying that a summer programme of events and specialist workshops, featuring artists Fiaz Elson and Dante Marioni, was now "postponed".
The statement reads: "Like many organisations, North Lands Creative has faced some significant challenges in the last few years. The ripple effects of the pandemic, recruitment challenges (particularly in a rural area), the energy crisis, and the subsequent funding crisis have created a creeping, negative toll on our programming, and most importantly, on the wellbeing of our people.
"As such, due to the extenuating circumstances we find ourselves placed in, the Board of Directors has taken the hard decision to pause this year’s summer programme and cancel the forthcoming scheduled professional classes. Our community programme will run as scheduled until the end of this month.
"We know this will come as a huge disappointment to those of you planning to travel and participate and will cause concern for those of you who hold North Lands in your hearts and minds. To those individuals who have registered for classes, we will be in touch with you to organise a refund of fees immediately. To our instructors, we really hope that you will join us again at a later date, to deliver the classes exactly as you envisioned."
The statement continues with a ray of hope by saying that though the professional programme is to be "temporarily paused, we are not stopping".
"North Lands has, since its establishment, strove to be a place of learning, community, development, and a source of inspiration; behind the scenes, both the board and staff will be dedicating themselves to safeguarding this vision and making North Lands a place we are proud to invite our guests into once again.
"Thank you for your understanding, your patience, and the support that so many of you have offered – we hope to be taking many of you up on this in a more practical way very soon. We wholeheartedly acknowledge the importance that North Lands holds for many and look forward to welcoming you all once again to Lybster in the near future."
The statement is signed off with best wishes from the "board and staff of North Lands Creative".
In September 2021, NLC celebrated 25 years in Lybster and announced that building work had "commenced across its campus" to create a new Creative Community Hub. A programme of works was to see a "much improved modern facility for the benefit of the local community" with welcoming spaces to enjoy creative arts and includes a community café, dedicated disabled toilet with baby change facilities and a gallery and makerspace.
At a Welcome Day event, coinciding with the 25th anniversary two years ago, then director Karen Phillips said: "So far we have raised over £300,000 which will be a welcome significant boost to the local cultural economy. This funding will help to allow studio activities to restart; our organisation to plan for developing new community spaces; and help protect jobs and create opportunities for creative freelancers."
