Unfortunately, due to cheaper imports from Asia, John Letters of Hillington, Glasgow, has gone out of business.
The clubs that Letters have been producing since 1918 have all been used and respected by movie stars like Frank Sinatra, Sir Sean Connery, and Danny Kaye. Golfers like Lee Trevino, Bernard Gallacher, and Paul Lawrie won a championship using them.
Kroll, a British accounting firm, on Thursday, reported that the firm was under receivership, and the company’s management was undertaking a significant effort to save the business, which employs 13.
In 1946, the Golden Goose putter was celebrated by golfers worldwide when it launched. The company’s arrival three years later, with the launch of the Master Model, lifted the firm to new heights.
A wide range of well-known celebrities took advantage of the prestige of being a John Letters owner. Many celebs, including Eartha Kitt, Jack Lemmon, and Judy Garland, demanded to use the firm’s clubs. However, Frank Sinatra used John Letters clubs all his life.
Using the new computing techniques and complex models, the organization rose to the challenge of the 1980s by partnering with the universities of St Andrews and Glasgow on a comprehensive program of research and innovation.
Trade became more complicated in the 1990s due to the advent of cheaper goods from the Far East.
The company had made substantial losses, but Gordon White, a Newton Mearns graphic designer who had taken it over the three years earlier, seemed to be able to come back on higher revenue with an agreement to distribute the goods in America from the Wal-Mart retail chain.
He explained that accountants had ignored the company’s marketing side and set out to make amends by engaging with professionals golfers. He planned to double the company’s overall revenue to £4 million, following the success of its Trilogy range.
The country’s most successful – and practically last – golf club builder was put in the hands of receivers, as the Scottish Open played out several miles away at Loch Lomond.
