Staff at Scots branch of Tim Hortons 'given just days' notice' before sudden closure

Andrea Lambrou
·2-min read
-Credit: (Image: Stuart Vance/ReachPlc)
-Credit: (Image: Stuart Vance/ReachPlc)


Stunned staff claim they have been left jobless just weeks before Christmas after Tim Hortons in East Kilbride suddenly shut up shop.

The popular Canadian coffee house and restaurant chain has closed its doors in the Plaza mall at East Kilbride shopping centre, allegedly giving employees only a few days' notice.

A source said: "The staff didn't even know. They only found out a few days ago. Merry Christmas."

Centre management today confirmed the closure and revealed Muffin Break will be moving into the unit over the next few weeks.

After more than 50 years of serving customers in Canada, Tim Hortons made its way to the United Kingdom bringing its premium coffee and iconic Timbits to the South Lanarkshire town in 2017.

Tim Hortons is part of the fabric of Canada with over 4,000 restaurants and serving over two billion cups of freshly brewed coffee.

READ MORE: East Kilbride Civic Centre goes up for sale

It was founded in 1964 by the professional ice hockey player whose vision was to create homely cafes.

The news is yet another blow for the town centre which has struggled to retain existing, or attract new businesses to the town.

EK, East Kilbride fell into administration just weeks before Christmas 2022.

Owners Sapphire, a Luxembourg-based shell company, became insolvent, plunging the future of the centre into uncertainty.

Scoop - asset manager to Interpath - has since worked with South Lanarkshire Council to stabilise the centre.

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And the council has given the green light for a "bold" £62.2m, 10-year masterplan that "will radically transform the shopping and leisure destination into a vibrant, high-quality urban environment".

As part of the redevelopment, the neighbouring Centre West Shopping Centre will be bulldozed and converted into a housing development, creating up to 400 new homes in the heart of the town.

A spokesperson for EK, East Kilbride said: "We are clearly disappointed that Tim Hortons is leaving the centre, however, we can confirm that Muffin Break will be moving into the unit in Plaza over the next few weeks.

"We have also been working closely with other retailers about coming to EK and should be in a position to announce a number of new arrivals shortly."

Lanarkshire Live has contacted Tim Hortons for comment.

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