A Perthshire man has turned to Facebook to save his antique restoration business after 30 years.
Ron Mutch, 66, from Errol has been running his own antique restoration business since the 1990s.
Ron is a master cabinet maker and French polisher. As part of his business, he offers furniture fabric and grandfather clock restorations. He also takes commissions for making pieces of furniture.
He has worked on projects from the likes of Glamis Castle and many private castles and mansions.
Starting at Errol Antiques aged just 14, Ron has been in the business for most of his life. However in January, he noticed fewer people were commissioning his services.
Social media helps
Not wanting to lose his business, he took to Facebook.
Although he admits not being an avid user of the site, Ron decided there would not be any harm in posting about his troubles.
He explained: “I thought it was just because people are paying their tax and energy bills in January and that it would pick up, but it was still quiet weeks later.
“Even the antiques dealers were quiet.”
Ron mainly uses Instagram to advertise and show off his work, and in February he shared a post to Facebook.
In his post he explained that in 30 years he had “never had to look for work” and he would “give it maybe two months” before he had to shut his doors.
He said: “I think of Facebook as mainly for friends as most antique dealers use Instagram, but I just decided to click share to Facebook when I was making the post.
“I’m so surprised because I’ve got quite a few jobs lined up after that, and lots of enquiries.
“And even though enquiries don’t mean a job, it’s something.”
Still enthusiastic about antique restoration
Along with his commissioned work, Ron buys antique pieces at auction and fixes them up before selling them on to other enthusiasts.
He said: “I’m always on the look out for things that I can make into something else, be it a stool or a table. I love being creative with it.
“Many people have told me to retire, but I don’t want to – I love what I do.
“I’m a carpenter by trade and I love to make things look nice again.
“I feel like it’s more of a hobby than a job sometimes because of how much I like doing it.”
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