Important News

After much deliberation and consideration, we have come to the difficult decision to cease trading as The Guild Dumfries C.I.C.

This decision hasn't been an easy one for us and there are many factors involved including changes in circumstances for the directors, financial factors, capacity and mainly volunteer fatigue. Unfortunately, these challenges have significantly impacted our operations and sustainability. As a result, we have reached a point where continuing our business operations the way they are is no longer feasible.

As you may know we announced the decision last year to no longer run our makers markets indefinitely. As a result of this and not having the capacity to manage other projects we are no longer delivering our social aims laid out within our governance as a Community Interest Company.

As a result of these challenges The Guild Dumfries C.I.C will stop running all our projects including Flourish at 111 High Street in Dumfries. Flourish will remain open until the 31st May and The Guild will continue to promote and champion our current collective of makers, creatives, producers and small businesses until this date. There will then be a period of transition as Flourish will be under new management.

The good news is Leah Halliday has made the decision to personally take over the running of the Gift Shop as a sole trader. The board of trustees at Midsteeple Quarter have agreed for her to continue at 111 High Street, but she will only occupy the gift shop and rear stock room in part of the ground floor. So the new venture won’t be dissimilar to the Flourish we all know and love. Leah is still really keen to continue to stock products made by small businesses based locally and across the U.K, alongside ethically sourced and fairtrade items. It will also continue to have a refillery and a selection of zero waste products. But to ensure its sustainability a few changes need to be made. The gift shop will reopen hopefully mid June as the shop area will be reduced in size and a more flexible space will also be created at the rear, to accommodate a studio|workshop|office during some of the year. We hope you will support this new venture.

Over the last 5 or so years,The Guild Dumfries C.I.C have loved collaborating with so many organisations, businesses, and members of our community. We are immensely grateful and thankful for the support and encouragement you have given us throughout our journey. We are extremely proud of what we have accomplished together during the many projects, markets, pop ups and events we have produced and managed.

While this marks the end of a chapter for The Guild Dumfries C.I.C, we remain grateful for the cherished memories, learnings, and relationships forged along the way. The Guild Dumfries CIC want to assure you that we are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for all parties involved. We will be working diligently to fulfil any outstanding obligations and ensure that any ongoing projects are properly concluded.

Once again, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has worked with us and collaborated over the years. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation during this challenging time.

Warm Regards Leah, Natalie, Diane & Rebecca Directors at The Guild Dumfries C.I.C