A ST PETER PORT restaurant and tearooms has become the latest victim of the recession.

Eight staff have lost their jobs and The Rowan Tree is now in the hands of the liquidator. ‘It is very sad that after only two years everything has been lost to the recession,’ said owner Babis Kalamis, 51 (pictured), who opened the Glategny Esplanade business in December 2007.

The reason, he said, was simple: ‘People are trying to save money, so we haven’t had enough customers.’

Mr Kalamis planned the business with his late wife Cathy and he said the place will always remind him of her, the establishment having taken her middle name.

‘She helped me plan everything,’ he said. ‘We did it together. It had been difficult to get off the ground, but we managed it. It is a very personal place.’

When Mrs Kalamis, a former Guernsey Press journalist and writer, lost her battle with cancer within weeks of it opening, her husband remained determined to keep things going, although at first it was hard to keep regular opening hours.

‘But over time,’ he said, ‘I got on with it. It has not been easy. But that is the way it goes. It is very sad.’