THE co-owner of a Greenock gaming cafe has said he is heartbroken that his business has had to roll down its shutter for the last time after just over a year in the town.

William Ford, who runs Geek Retreat on Kilblain Street with his brother James, announced yesterday that they had taken the “difficult decision” to close the premises.

The 29-year-old told the Telegraph that difficulties acquiring certain stock and a downturn in the wider economy had contributed to the shop's demise. 

The premises opened in May of last year and offered a regular calendar of events for local gaming enthusiasts and people of all ages.

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It quickly became a thriving community hub and played host to a variety of activities centred around games such as Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons and Warhammer.

They also sold a range of games, miniatures, paint and magazines.

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William said: “This is something we’ve been forced to look at for quite a bit of time.

“We had a declining business, not through the community or anything like that, but through things like the economy and struggles to buy certain stock.

“It just led to a bit of a downfall, we got caught in not being able to buy stock, but not being able to buy the stock we needed to bring in more stock.

“You get to a point where you just don’t have the stuff you need to continue.

“It is heartbreaking.

“It has done a massive amount for a lot of the community we work with.

“We’ve had people who have gotten together and engage with us, who have found friendship and community with us and who have been able just to get out and make friends while getting involved with the hobbies that they love.

“It’s been my whole life for nearly two years now and I’m just not sure what I’m going to do after this.

“I will hopefully find something that involves doing more with the community and getting involved with people."

William thanked bosses from Geek Retreat's head office and said that the franchise firm had been very supportive of him and his brother. 

He added: “We are disheartened that we can’t continue to give this to people, we will give our best to try and move things elsewhere and to other spaces.

“There are a lot of reasons why this didn’t work out.

“We want to give people a good last day and then we’ll begin work on what we do next.

“We want the community to survive, as much as this place is great and fantastic, our community is brilliant and it can continue elsewhere.”

In a statement on Facebook, the shop’s bosses said:  “We want to thank you, our community for your love, support and passion over the last year and a bit.

“It's been life changing to meet and work with so many amazing people.

“Thank you all for your incredible support from day one, you've made this all worth it.

“We'd also love to thank our Magic: the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons and Warhammer Communities.

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“Thank you, Craig, for your help in establishing and running the Kill Team League, your support was invaluable - you made these things possible.

“A big thank you to our third-party creators and crafters who have brightened our store with their fantastic stock over the last year.

“Finally, special thanks go out to John, Ben, Kerr, Jasmyn, All, Eric and Killian among an ocean of great faces who have been outstanding in supporting us and standing by us throughout this journey.”