By Alasdair Fraser

Copyright inverness-courier

A much-loved family run tenpin bowling alley in Inverness is set to close after 36 years – with the loss of 25 jobs.

Responding to the bitter blow, the owner of Rollerbowl in Culduthel accused Highland Council of “betraying” local businesses after sanctioning the arrival of a huge national competitor through the planning process.

Shahid Yusaf warned back in December last year that allowing Hollywood Bowl to take residence at Inverness Shopping Park would almost certainly be fatal to what was a longstanding success story locally.

Nevertheless, he vowed to fight for its survival.

Speaking exclusively to the Courier today, Mr Yusaf admitted he was “heartbroken” after being forced to break the bad news to tearful staff this morning.

From profitability prior to Hollywood Bowl’s opening in early April to “haemorrhaging money” over the last five months, the 66-year-old said he was left with no choice.

The difficult decision, which will also hit local suppliers and other firms used for maintenance and cleaning, was only taken on Friday morning last week after a meeting with his accountant.

Against financial advice, the business owner is set to keep the bowling alley and its hospitality offerings open until the end of October.

This will give staff longer notice to enable them to find jobs and also allow loyal customers, including generations of families who have kept coming back over the years, to have one last nostalgic fling within the centre.

Mr Yusaf, who invested £300,000 in a refurbishment of the centre during a year’s closure through the pandemic, said: “We tried our best for five months, but it is just no longer sustainable.

“In their wisdom, our good council gave Hollywood Bowl planning permission, saying they were going to create 30 jobs.

“Well, what about the 25 we are now going to lose? What about the impact on all of the local suppliers we use, and have always used?

“I’m so disappointed with the council. As a well-run, local family business, we feel betrayed.

“What the council also did by allowing the Hollywood Bowl to open was take away a very good and valuable facility, one that was unique.

“It was a one-of-a-kind swimming pool that catered for elderly people and those with disabilities.

“That has never been replaced.

“Many people petitioned against the change of use, just as we did.”

While Mr Yousaf is devastated personally, he is most concerned for his staff’s future. At least six of the 25 have been employed by him since the very early days of Rollerbowl.

He said: “I had a meeting with my staff this morning to explain everything to them. We stayed shut until lunchtime.

“There were staff members in tears. I have half a dozen employees who have worked with me for 35 years, since the very early days. You don’t often get that nowadays.

“I like to think I’ve been a good employer, providing a good environment to work and a very good wage.

“You don’t get that with big chains and multi-nationals.

“The staff are very upset, devastated really. I’m just heartbroken for them.

“It is a very distressing time for all of us.

“I’ve put my life into it. I was a young man of 31 coming here to open the business. There was no bowling centre.

“Local people have been very badly let down, as have we, as a well-run local family business, using local suppliers, that has paid business rates – an extortionate amount, by the way – for the last 35 years.

“They took that away to put a bowling centre in its place, when we already had a bowling centre.

“This area doesn’t justify more than one bowling centre. There just isn’t enough business.”

Explaining his decision to stay open until after the October school holidays, Mr Yusaf said: “We could have shut the doors tomorrow, and we would have been better doing that.

“But it didn’t feel like the right thing to do.

“I have taken the decision to remain open until the end of October, for two reasons.

“Firstly, to give the staff the best possible notice and allow them to look for new jobs.

“Secondly, we have generations of family who have used the centre who we know will want to make one last visit.

“People in Inverness and all across the Highlands, the islands too, have nice memories of coming here.

“We have been part of people’s lives for a long time.

“We have parents who were five when they first bowled with us, who are now 40 and take their own kids. I was a young man of 31, a young dad when I first opened the centre and I am now a granddad who sees his grandchildren enjoying it here.

“I would just like to thank the public, our very loyal customers, for all the support they have given us for 35 years.”

Mr Yusaf holds no real bitterness towards the rival business, pointing out their arrival is “just what these kind of businesses do”.

But he feels Highland Council had a duty to protect a genuine local business and its local suppliers, particularly when other leisure facilities, such as the city’s only ice centre, are facing severe financial strain.

He added: “There is only so much money to spend in our economy on these kinds of leisure facilities. We are a small town, really.

“The Hollywood Bowl, they don’t really care. They’re coming in to walk over you. They are the biggest operators in this kind of business in the UK, with multinational ownership.

“But they have been allowed to come in by Highland Council, while us, as an independent local business here in the area for 35-plus years, unfortunately cannot sustain itself.

“I read the news and there is not enough money to sustain one ice centre,

“We have been contributing to the local economy, a local company dealing with local people, local suppliers, small businesses in this area – money that stays in the local economy.

“Hollywood Bowl, as a national chain, is not putting much back – it is money that is leaving the area.

“I would understand better the council’s thinking if we were a small, six-lane facility, where there wasn’t capacity to meet demand.

“We have more space and capacity than them, but unfortunately it is a shiny new centre, located in a busy place.

“I feel I have no choice now, but to retire. I had no intention of retiring – it was never the plan to stop.

“We had a successful, well-run business.

“We have had recessions during the 35 years and dealt with them. We dealt with something very unusual five years ago, the pandemic.

“We didn’t just deal with it, we reinvested during close to a year when we were shut, spending about £300,000 on refurbishing the place, inside and outside.

“There was new furniture, new carpets, new flooring, we redecorated, did a facelift to the front of the building.

“It was a lot of money to bring the centre up to a better standard. That’s how committed we were to its long-term future and to give people a better experience.

“Then this comes along.”

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