Brodick Co-op bids a fond farewell to Ian
Ian Pyott celebrated his 65th birthday the day after he finished his last shift at the Brodick Co-op store where management and staff wished him a happy retirement after 15 years with the company.
A familiar face at the main island store, Ian is a wellknown character who has been involved with many of the store’s important milestones during his long-serving career, including the official re-opening of the refurbished store in 2014 and last year’s 20 year celebrations.
Most notably though, Ian is known for his fundraising efforts where he has been the driving force and face of many Co-op fundraisers, including raising £1,000 for the Arran defibrillator pro- ject which has seen the installation of more than 20 public access defibrillators across the island.
Ian, who has a reputation for being friendly and helpful, has a quick wit and a great sense of humour and even on his last day at work he was talking to customers and raising funds for local charities with a raffle to win a 32-inch television.
Sad farewells
Many of the customers who visited the store said their sad farewells to Ian and contributed to his latest charitable cause after leaving messages on his shirt wishing him all the best for the future.
Ian said that he is looking forward to spending more time with his family on the island as well as on the mainland and taking care of his 95-year-old mother. He also hopes to find the time to dedicate a bit of time to his hobby of model railways.
Good humour
Store manager Liz McLean and team manager Carol Harwood presented Ian with gifts from the company and from his colleagues and Ian, with his characteristically good humour, thanked them by saying: ‘I will miss you all, not so much the hard work’, he joked, ‘but certainly the friendly interactions that I have had with all of the staff and customers.’