The boss of House of Bruar was accused of being “irresponsible” and “divisive” after he sent a letter praising the No referendum vote along with hampers to customers.
Several people who had bought the hampers from the Highland Perthshire firm, often referred to as ‘the Harrods of the north,’ contacted The Courier to express their displeasure at the letter written by Patrick Birkbeck, managing director of House of Bruar, in which he explains his relief that independence was avoided last month.
The furore comes after Mr Birkbeck previously told House of Bruar employees that “independence would be a disaster” for the company in a memo placed on the staff noticeboard shortly before the crucial vote on September 18.
His letter states: “My wife and I were born in England, as were my children, and I am proud to live in Scotland and delighted to be remaining as part of the UK.
“As a family, we have invested everything in Scotland and to have been regarded as a separate country would have been extremely unsettling.
“It has not been easy over the last month, but to have successfully navigated the political process is a testament to all things British.
“Thank you for your support throughout this time.”
However, the letter has not gone down too well with some House of Bruar customers.
In a reply to Mr Birkbeck, Greg McKee said: “Scotland has always welcomed people from all over the world to settle here, and I would say your comment about being English should be irrelevant.
“If that is a reason for voting against independence then I feel you have missed the point.
“This was about widening our horizons not keeping them narrow under the yoke of Westminster.”
He continued: “I would ask that you don’t alienate those that value independence in your communications and remove this paragraph from future letters.”
A business owner who lives near House of Bruar, but wished to remain anonymous, accused Mr Birkbeck of being “divisive” with his comments.
“These comments are offensive and can cause hostility which was never there before,” she said.
“I run a holiday let business and most of our guests are English, but they don’t come here because of the outcome of the referendum, they come because it’s a nice place.
“Mr Birkbeck’s comments are irresponsible and I think someone in his position should think more before writing the like of this.”
House of Bruar was unavailable for comment.