130-year-old Scottish knitwear manufacturing firm Peter Scott & Co has been placed into administration, leaving 150 jobs at risk.
KPMG has been appointed as the administrator to the Hawick firm, with one pressing issue being whether the business can be sold as a going concern or not.
Local Conservative MSP John Lamont commented on the unfortunate situation: "The Peter Scott name is known around the world and has been a major employer in Hawick for 130 years. My first concern is for the 150 staff who will be facing huge uncertainty..."
Michael Moore, The MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, believes providing support to the employees who face being made redundant will be the first priority, while uncovering the underlying factors that caused the failure will also be paramount.
The family-run firm signed a multi-million pound contract with a German retail company in 2009, with the aim of transforming it in to one of Europe's largest brands.
Peter Scott & Co is one of the biggest independently owned knitwear companies in Scotland. It started out producing underwear, and was very popular in the time before central heating was introduced into homes.
