Scots entrepreneur RW Forsyth first established his retail company in Glasgow, opening his first store on Renfield Street.

Construction begins on Forsyth’s new £40,000 Princes Street shop in Edinburgh, which would wear the "crown" of the city - it was also the first fully steel-framed structure in Scotland.

The spire itself was designed by Gilbert Bayes, known for his work with the Royal Doulton Company.

Pictured: Princes Street in 1901

The department store stops trading after roughly 75 years in business.

Arcadia take over the A-listed building formerly occupied by Forsyth’s department store.

Arcadia, owned by retail mogul Sir Philip Green, removed the three-tonne sphere from the building after engineers found it was in danger of collapsing.

The work occurred while the building’s upper floors were being transformed into a Travelodge. It was understood no consent had been granted from the council.

Arcadia approaches Edinburgh World Heritage to fund the refurbishment of the sphere after the company "baulked" at the "substantial costs". At the time Sir Philip was reportedly worth £5bn.

Cockburn Association files formal complaint against Arcadia.

Three years after the retail giant removed the landmark, Lost Edinburgh founder David McLean started an online petition calling for Arcadia to bring back the Forsyth Sphere – it received more than 1000 signatures in three days.

Mr McLean said it was "hard not to notice" the fact the sphere was missing and the public support of the petition showed great "depth of feeling".

Reports indicated the sphere was being stored in a steel merchant in Fife.

Meanwhile Arcadia said it had "no plans" to reinstate it, as heritage groups branded the scenario "embarrassing".

Edinburgh City Council's development management sub-committee met to decide whether or not Arcadia had breached planning control and if enforcement notices should be served.

They voted to take action against Arcadia, serving the company with an enforcement notice which gave between six to nine months to reinstate the metal globe.

The company could appeal the notice, a process which would take four months, followed by a public consultation which would take another six months.

Deadline for Arcadia to reinstate the iconic landmark – the retail giant pledged to follow through with the restoration one week beforehand.

The petition launched by Mr McLean had gathered 4700 signatures.