FROM OUR FILES
TEN YEARS AGO Friday May 24, 2013 Local shop owners voice fears over home deliveries
Businesses in Mid Argyll have expressed concern that Tesco’s home delivery service could be the final nail in the coffin for rural enterprise
The supermarket chain has offered home delivery in the area since Christmas but this month launched a promotion offering people £12 off their first online shop.
As people take advantage of the promotion, local businesses fear people will be less likely to do their weekly shopping in town, slashing their custom and potential passing trade.
Kay Hunter, owner of Cockles Fine Foods in Lochgilphead, said the impact of Tesco’s dot com service should not be underestimated: “It is inevitable Tesco’s online delivery is going to have an effect on us. The online service reduces the number of people who walk on the streets and come into our shops,” she said. “I can see why people want to spend less, but when something like this begins there is no going back.
“It is so important that people support our local businesses.”
Meanwhile the owner of a local milk and dairy delivery company has said he is already seeing a drop in trade.
“I would say that it has had an effect on our business already,” he said.
“It is clearly having an impact on small village shops which has a knock-on effect for us.”
The businessman, who did not want to be named, said there will be less demand for his services from independent shops, his main customer and life-blood of his business.
A spokesman for Tesco refused to say whether or not its latest £12 savings promotion had drawn more customers to its delivery service, but said: “The feedback so far has been really positive.
“We have listened to our customers and in Mid Argyll they told us that they really appreciate being able to order their shopping online and have it delivered to their door.”
TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO Friday May 23, 2003 Table helps Talking Newspapers
Volunteers at Argyll Talking Newspapers were very chatty this week after receiving a generous donation from Mid Argyll Round Table’s charity account.
The money goes into the account from popular annual fundraising events such as the Lochgilphead fireworks display each November and Santa’s sleigh at Christmas, as well as many other events throughout the year.
Argyll Talking Newspapers tapes the contents of various titles, including The Argyllshire Advertiser, and distributes them to 312 visually impaired clients weekly, so that they can keep up with all the latest news.
Prizes for Crarae garden
Little more than a week after its rebirth was celebrated, Crarae Garden, Minard, has marked its return to form with two silver cup wins at the Scottish Rhododendron Society Show in Ayr at the weekend.
A total of 19 entries in the various classes resulted in six first places, two second places and five third places for the garden.
Ann Steele, gardens advisor for National Trust for Scotland, said: “I am delighted to see Crarae competing once again and it is rewarding to see the quality and breadth of its plant collection being publicly recognised.”
She added: “It was touch and go whether the blooms would be up to standard, what with the stormy weather of the last few days and a lengthy car journey from Crarae to Ayr but that challenge is what competitive showing is all about!”
FORTY YEARS AGO Friday May 27, 1983 Advertiser changes hands
Oban Times Ltd, the company which publishes the Argyllshire Advertiser, Campbeltown Courier and The Oban Times is set to move back into individual private ownership.
In discussions with staff on Tuesday, Mr Fred Johnston, chairman of the Johnston Newspaper Group, owners of the company since June 1976, confirmed that negotiations for the sale of the company were now nearing completion.
The prospective purchaser is Mr Howard Bennett, 42, a former managing director of the Scottish printing and publishing firm Holmes MacDougall Ltd.
He plans to move from Edinburgh to Oban with his wife and two teenage children to take charge of the Oban Times operation. Mr Bennett is meeting the staff in Oban on Monday.
This week Mr Johnston stressed Mr Bennett’s firm commitment to protect the jobs and conditions of employment of the workforce.
It was Mr Bennett’s intention, he said, to maintain all the company’s existing activities and to develop the company in the longer term. Said Mr Johnston: “While I regret severing our group’s connection with Oban Times Ltd, I am convinced that this successful and individualistic company will have a more secure future in the hands of a resident proprietor.”
SIXTY YEARS AGO Tuesday May 28, 1963 New fire stations for Argyll
Negotiations are at present proceeding for sites for new fire stations at Oban, Tarbert, and Tighnabruaich, according to the annual report of Firemaster J Hartil, West Area Fire Brigade chief.
Reporting on the cause of the 925 outbreaks in 1962 in the area (Renfrew, Argyll and Bute), Mr Hartil states that children playing with matches and dropped lights are the cause of about 40 per cent.
He added: “This trend of events appears to be increasing and it would seem that little can be done to prevent this happening.”
An increase was recorded in lives lost as a result of fire. In the area 13 people died in 1962, three more than in 1961. In the West Highland zone one death was reported at Ballachulish, when a man of 61 years was trapped and perished, the fire being caused by a spark from a coal fire igniting a chair.
The Firemaster added: “It will be recalled that in the 1961 annual report reference was made to the dangers of smoking in bed and from unguarded fires.
“It is apparent that more widespread publicity is required to bring home to the public the very real menace arising in the home from actions which can only be termed foolhardy and dangerous. Lives are needlessly and tragically lost on many occasions by lack of care and thought.”
There were 158 malicious calls during the year of which Argyll contributed only two. Special services carried out by the brigade totalled 111 and ranged from pumping out flooded buildings to sawing a ring from a boy’s finger.