New Gordon

"I suppose I better get on and tell you about the birth of the Company, so if you've heard this before, I apologise in advance. It all began because of Addis Plastics, really. They used to offer a hefty extra discount of 10% and 2.5% discount if you bought £500 worth of their stuff. In the mid 60's that was a fearsome amount - not if two of you shared it, and that was what my father and Ian McBoyle of Tindall Scott, Aberdeen used to do. When I came home to the family business in 1966, and got caught up in the BHF's Aberdeen Branch, I thought it would be a pretty good idea to open this up to other Members and hit the 15% discount level. We certainly did, and this Everest of Plastic-ware arrived in Inverurie where it took us three days to sort it into six Ben Nevis-sized heaps, mercifully in good weather. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong, including the obligatory bad payer.

But, at the Branch Meeting of 15^th March 1972 in Aberdeen, the subject of a Buying Group was raised again. I remember the date exactly because it was my Birthday that year. Come to think of it, it was my Birthday this year as well. Frank Armstrong of Cults was the catalyst, and it was agreed that those interested could stay behind and discuss the matter. Seven firms did, and we chipped in to fly Fred Parkin up from Birmingham to tell us about the new concept of Dealer-owned trading. And after that meeting with Fred Parkin, six of us set up the Gordon Trading Company, named after the local regiment as we all traded within the Gordon Highlanders traditional recruiting grounds. And, honestly that wasn't my idea. Sounds like me, but it wasn't.

Ian McBoyle was elected chairman. The other firms were Soutar's of Insch; Forbes' of Woodside; Camerons of Inverbervie; Armstrongs of Cults, and JJ Watson of Inverurie. There are only two survivors today. You will be surprised to learn that I was not the first Secretary. It was a man called Jack Petrie who was manager of Shirras Laing Wholesale in Aberdeen. Jack had been rather shoddily treated upon his retiral and leapt at the chance to take his wholesale skills to this embryo company.

And we were hated in the Trade. Shirras Laing's naturally, and Gray Watt's of Aberdeen with Findlay's of Glasgow did their utmost to squash us, or put obstacles in our way. Where are they today? At first we met monthly in a tiny flat above Forbes' of Woodside's original premises in Aberdeen, then switched to the Woodside Hotel before moving out to Ivverurie's Kintore Arms, where the rooms were free, the parking easy, and recruitment followed. As these new recruits joined, men like Jim Rattray of Turriff; Bob Mirtle of Nairn; Alasdair Russell of Elgin; Ron Erskine of Buckie, the wholesalers' attitudes mellowed. If you couldn't beat them, join them, and they actually fought with each other to give us better terms. And I think, from memory, Gray Watt won, but only because geography was on their side.

I had retired as Secretary in 1994 having served as such since 1978, and was succeeded by David Arnot of Forfar, who has himself recently retired. David was to have been here tonight, but chose to go on a Rotary curling tour of Canada instead. Fred Forbes retired as Chairman the following year, and was succeeded by our present Chairman, Stuart Skinnner, New Gordon himself."

taken from speech made by J Stuart Watson - 8^th April 2000