SWIZZ WATCH
Fury as shop selling TAG Heuer timepieces gets public cash help for opening in city
A CASH-strapped council handed out thousands of pounds to help open a swanky TAG Heuer watch shop – despite pushing through brutal cuts.
Aberdeen City Council bosses approved the £35,000 grant – with additional rates relief bringing it to £50,000 – for the Swiss luxury watch retailer.
The SNP/Liberal Democrat-run local authority has come under fire for the “incredible” spend after axing libraries and swimming pools amid a £25million deficit.
Last month, the local authority froze council tax but raised other fees and dipped into reserves.
Meanwhile, TAG Heuer had its best year in 2023 – its parent firm making a £24billion profit.
Opposition Labour group leader Tauqeer Malik said: “I find it incredible that when we have child poverty going up, cuts to budgets on housing, on homelessness and we are unable to pay for our children to have free school meals right through primary school, the SNP in Aberdeen are prepared to give £35,000 of a free, non-repayable grant to a shop selling TAG Heuer watches.”
Malik, who has been selected to take on
SNP Westminster group leader Stephen Flynn in Aberdeen South in the upcoming election, added: “I have written to Stephen Flynn asking him to join me in condemning the council for using public money to support such a high end business when children and adults are struggling.” The grant came from a council fund to attract retailers to the city centre, hit by a downturn in the oil and gas industry.
It comes as part of a £1million investment in Union Street by city jewellers Jamieson & Carry.
A council report said the Union Street Empty Shops Grant Scheme had brought more than £1million into the city from a £140,000 outlay.
Christian Allard, council co-leader and convener of the Anti-Poverty Committee, said the scheme “was established to offer match-funded grants to help bring vacant units on Union Street back into use, creating new job opportunities, and ultimately helping to revitalise Union Street.
“We are making Aberdeen a better place to live, work, study and do business. This is despite being opposed by Labour, who I see have now resorted to attacking local businesses.”
An Aberdeen City Council spokesperson said: “The unit referenced in the Empty Shops paper is 132 Union Street, which was allocated the maximum award amount of £35,000 to support the required renovations to open as a TAG Heuer watch shop.”