15/08/2026
Statement from Ian Lambert of Artisan Island
FAO John Rustage of Rusty's Relics and other sellers owed money
Due to serious untruths and misinformation being circulated by Mr Rustage and others, this statement has become necessary.
Artisan Island Ltd has been experiencing financial difficulties for some time, which should come as no surprise to anyone as this has been made public for at least six months.
Everything possible was done to trade out of this situation, but unfortunately it proved impossible.
Mr Rustage and others repeatedly claim that hundreds of sellers are owed money. This is simply not true and is a fabrication. In my experience, when people are angry they tend to embellish the truth, stretching it and using imagination to make their point.
Mr Rustage and others state that tens of thousands of pounds are missing and imply that I have personally benefited from this, which is untrue.
Are Mr Rustage and others owed money? Yes, they are. Can they all be paid? No, they cannot, because there are insufficient funds. The Directors of Artisan Island managed finances to continue trading similarly to many other Artisan shops in the same position.
Unfortunately despite an interest free loan to pay 2 months rent until January and relieve pressure on the shop, the dire Christmas sales meant the shop never got back on track. Waged shop staff (including the shop manager/former Director) left in March 2026, when their wages could no longer be paid. Voluntary hours since then have been substantial to fill this gap, whilst reducing for a period due to health issues and increasing again more recently, enabling me to man the shop 5/6 days a week. It still hasn’t been enough to turn the shop around.
In May this year, a decision was made to continue generating income for payments by paying sellers daily for their sales from 1st June. This effectively ring-fenced sellers' money, giving them confidence to bring in stock. As a result, the bleed of sellers stopped. Not everyone who stayed continuously replenished stock, but those who remained prevented the business from collapsing immediately. Without stock, Artisan Island had nothing to sell, and without sales, it could not pay it’s debts.
Many sellers stuck with Artisan Island, supporting the shop by investing more of their own stock and promising to stay to the end. Things began to turn around slowly. At the same time, Mr Rustage and others continually harassed me personally for payment of their debts and published posts on social media designed to damage sales. While chasing debts is permitted, once insolvency is apparent, it becomes a criminal offence to attempt to make oneself a preferential creditor.
I have continued to keep the shop open, working 5–6 days a week with voluntary support, because I want as much money as possible repaid before the shop ceases trading. I would personally be better off not working.
Mr Rustage has made it clear that he only cares about what is owed to him and is happy to see all other creditors lose their money, due to his vindictive behaviour.
The decision was taken to pay current sellers daily for what sells, with any remaining money going first to the sellers who stayed to help keep the doors open. Artisan Island had already lost over 100 sellers (not hundreds as has been claimed). Mr Rustage has consistently and maliciously posted on social media to damage Artisan Island as a business and reduce sales for all creditors. In his own words to me: "As for me, well I'm absolutely and emphatically trying to cost YOU money now as it's obvious that you don't give a s**t about your creditors so why should we give a s**t about you?" By attempting to prevent sellers from entering the shop and buyers from shopping there, and explicitly seeking to "cost us money", Mr Rustage has made clear he would rather the shop closed immediately, regardless of whether anyone else is paid. His campaign against Artisan Island began months ago,
Mr Rustage is economical with the truth. He has actually received some payment towards what is owed to him. He also left behind stock that he donated to Artisan Island, and as that stock sells he receives payment no differently from any seller still in the shop. He neglects to mention this, despite having voluntarily given that stock to the business.
Artisan Island will now be exploring legal options as an insured limited company to address the libel from Mr Rustage, given the seriously damaging nature of his latest post in a local news group. Please be aware that anyone who continues to host or share that post, or any other of his libellous allegations which he openly admits are designed to stop Artisan Island trading, is also committing libel. Artisan Island is insured as a limited company, individuals who are attacking it are advised to check their insurance coverage. If they are not insured, then their personal financial assets are at risk.
For those unfamiliar with Artisan Island's history, there are multiple reasons for the business's current position:
1. The past winter was the worst for footfall this town has seen in decades; two weeks before Christmas, the streets were empty.
2. The Weymouth BID did not work with Artisan Island to help it succeed, failing to promote it as expected and actively attacking it on social media at times. They are paid to assist every business without discrimination, yet in Artisan Island's case made an exception.
3. Shoplifting has reached unprecedented levels in Weymouth (and nationally). Before WH Smith closed and I drove off their most prolific shoplifters, they were losing upwards of £5,000 per week. I have personally lost more than £10,000 to theft. Platypus Crystals lost a thousand pounds worth of rings brought in to support the shop, stolen the very same day and numerous individual valuable items. Theft has also affected many other sellers.
4. Dorset Council and specific council employees undermined Artisan Island instead of working with it, shown by written exchanges published in local groups. Council officials in private groups have been shown to be communicating in a way aimed to damage the business, in conjunction with a well-known local family.
5. Artisan Island brought over 600 people to Weymouth to trade on the high street; 500 of whom left due to lack of support. Local official support was sadly lacking.
6. Dorset Council demanded over £1,500 per month in rates and a BID levy of more than £150 per month—unsustainable for a small business on top of rent, utilities, staffing etc.
7. A bleed of sellers began in September/October 2025 and continued through to 2026, finally stemmed only when paying them out daily commenced. That seller bleed was started and orchestrated by an individual seller from he afore-mentioned local family who came into the shop as a seller without disclosing her association and then published abusive posts against me personally, including taking out of context an excerpt from a fictional short story, Weymouth BID employees, and council employees have engaged in undermining Artisan Island and seeking to damage it —all documented in the public domain. They were more concerned about how the information was passed on, than the planned undermining of a local business that the exchanges showed
Artisan Island and myself personally have been subjected to an enormous amount of vitriol and negativity since I have tried to address shoplifting. At points the abuse has been horrific, included death threats and other verbal assaults of this kind. How I express myself and my language is not always to some people’s liking. It is how I speak, blunt, direct and honest and also reflective of my background. I am perceived as aggressive by some, but invariably am responding to an attack on me, when I retaliate. Those who know and interact with me in person are only too aware of the difference between the reality and the caricature created by a mob mentality on social media.
Mobility scooters are not permitted in Artisan Island because of the environmental, risks, including past damage to stock owned by various sellers which has to be paid for by the shop at retail price. Artisan Island isn’t a large supermarket like Tescos. The risk of injuries to young children from mobility scooters driving through the environment had been assessed as being too high, in risk assessment. Asking sellers to remove their stock, significantly reducing sales at a time of the business going down and taking out lots of shelving, is not something that is expected of any other business in town. People see many small business premises that aren’t accessible for a mobility scooter and adjust accordingly. They don’t have wheelchairs and walkers available for customers like Artisan Island do. I have made reasonable and proportional accommodations. The recent announcement regarding mobility scooters was made due to various people trying to forcibly drive them through the shop, despite the clear signs not to and damage being caused. Yes I have become frustrated at this issue and am not impressed with the responses which have focused on my language, spelling and calling me ‘ableist’, whilst I am trying to keep a shop going despite multiple disabilities including a stoma, a heart condition and chronic daily pain.�
Dorset Council has succeeded in obtaining a liability order against Artisan Island for business rates owed, ensuring without question the shop will close and that they will be paid ahead of others. The Seafood Festival was granted £50,000 and attracted no more than a couple of dozen stalls for one and a half days of trading. Artisan Island brought over 600 people from across the UK and Europe to trade in Weymouth and received no support from Dorset Council—only a fine and a liability order. They enforced bills for next year's rates and the Weymouth BID, knowing the shop would not remain open.
To the former sellers, including those who took out County Court Judgements: the judgements only made the situation harder for the business and did not get those sellers paid faster. They were warned at this late stage they would be throwing good money after bad, but proceeded regardless. This gave the business a poor credit status, making it harder to repay creditors—a self-fulfilling prophecy.
There are people who do not like me personally, and that is fine. However, being so spiteful as to publicly protest the shop and stop others from shopping at Artisan Island is simply vile. Those people now have what they campaigned heavily for, as does Mr Rustage and the sellers who joined him: another empty shop on the high street that may take another three and a half years to rent, as it did before Artisan Island took it on.
Any contracts, debts, and liabilities belong to Artisan Island Limited, not to me personally. I am owed a substantial backlog in wages and have not profited in the manner Mr Rustage claims from keeping the shop open.
Artisan Island plans to remain open until the end of September to continue generating income for repayments. Mr Rustage and others have made clear they want it shut down, with no consideration for anyone else owed money.
At the end of September, they will get what they want, and Artisan Island will close permanently. Until then, your support is valued as ever.
