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House of Bruar boss defends backing No vote in hamper letter

Patrick Birkbeck.
Patrick Birkbeck.

A letter sent to customers of one of the most prestigious shops in Highland Perthshire, which welcomes the independence referendum vote, has been defended by its author.

Patrick Birkbeck, managing director of House of Bruar, told The Courier he didn’t feel there was much to the letter, which has been issued along with hampers and catalogues.

In the letter he had said he is “proud” to live in Scotland and “delighted” to be remaining as part of the UK. He went on to say that his family had invested “everything” in Scotland so to have been regarded as a separate country would have been “extremely unsettling.”

He continued in the letter: “It has not been easy over the last month, but to have successfully navigated the political process is a testament to all things British.”

Several House of Bruar customers had expressed their anger at the content of this part of the letter, with one business owner claiming Mr Birkbeck’s comments were “offensive.”

And another customer wrote to Mr Birkbeck, claiming he shouldn’t “alienate” those that value independence.

However, last night Mr Birkbeck defended the letter, stating “it is what it is.”

“I believe in people having the right to vote and don’t care which way they voted in the referendum whether it was ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ he said.

“There isn’t too much to this letter. What the public or my staff vote makes no difference to me but I believe they should vote as people have died to give us the vote I wanted them (staff) to vote.

“We went through the whole democratic process (the referendum) and came up with an answer without anyone being killed.”

He continued: “My staff are my most valuable asset but it was up to them which way they voted.”

Mr Birkbeck had previously been criticised after he told House of Bruar employees that independence would be a “disaster.”