A GALASHIELS wallpaper and paint shop is set to close its doors for the final time – after 137 years of trading.

John Mill and Son, in Channel Street, is to shut at the end of next month.

The company was founded in 1885 by John Mill and has supplied most areas of the United Kingdom.

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They firm had shops in Hawick, Dumfries, Dalkeith, Berwick and Galashiels, along with a warehouse in the town’s Bridge Street and warehouse and offices in Island Street.

It employed many staff including one woman, Mrs Nora Nisbet, who worked for the company for 65 years until she was 87.

The business was passed down to John's son Harold, then to his son Ray before current owner David Mill took over.

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Mr Mill said: “I would very much like to thank all of our customers, tradesmen, businesses and generations of families from the Scottish Borders and beyond that have supported us over the years.

“And also the many members of staff who have worked with us.

“I’ve always had good banter with our customers who have remained loyal to us.

“I’ve been working for the company for 47 years and started in the packing department in 1975 on £26 per week. I then moved to the warehouse and loaded the vans.

“We used to get 300 cartons of wallpaper most weeks. I then moved to the trade counter at the Island Street warehouse then the office before moving to the Hawick shop for a week but stayed their eight years.

“I moved to this shop in Galashiels  in 1993 and have been here ever since.

“It’s been hard work, and I’ve worked around 12 hours a day, finishing around 9pm each night.

“So it’s time to retire and have some quality of life with my partner Catherine (Patterson). I like to run and we both like to walk. Hopefully I’ll get to spend some time on the golf course, and I recently became a grandfather to Oliver.

“I’ll miss it. There is so much history and nostalgia to look back on and it will be strange not to have to get ready for work.

“I don’t have a prospective buyer yet but it’s likely to be sold as a shell rather than an ongoing wallpaper shop.”