A MANAGER APPOINTED.
In the minutes the most important things sometimes crop up in the most casual manner. At a meeting of the committee which was held on 18th September, one of the principal themes of the evening’s discussion was the purchasing of new horses. A horse was to be returned as unsuitable, and another horse priced at £30 was to be taken on trial, as it would not suit the committee that anything should be paid to the owner as “rue bargain.” Then, quite casually, the minute goes on to mention that “the engaging of Mr Sturrock as manager of the Baking Society was then gone into.” This is the first mention made in the minutes of the proposal to appoint a manager; but, from the document which had been prepared and which was transcribed into the minute of the meeting, it is evident that the subject had been under consideration for some time. It is interesting to note in this agreement that “the manager was not to exceed 3/ for baking and firing.” He was to determine “the quality and also the maker’s flour he shall use, but the committee reserve the right to prevent the price of flour used any week exceeding the average price of extra flour.” He was to keep the accounts of the Society, and prepare weekly statements which would give
“the number of sacks baked and also the cost of the flour and other materials, wages, rent, cost of horse-keep, etc., giving the total of the whole, with a statement of the number of loaves baked from each sack, the total number of dozens of loaves produced, with smallbread; also the cash value of the loaves and smallbread added and the expense with the cost deducted, showing clear profit; also a statement showing the number of dozens of loaves and smallbread sent to each society, with the number left on hand at the end of each week.”
The pay of the manager was fixed at 35/ per week until the Society was able to pay a bonus of sixpence per £, when his wages were to be advanced to 40/ per week.
Already the directors were beginning to find that if it was difficult to sell as much bread as they desired, it was equally difficult sometimes to get payment for the bread they did sell. There was hardly one of the Glasgow societies but had to struggle hard to keep going at all. Of all those societies in the city to which the new venture must look for its best support there were not more than two which emerged safely from the struggles of those early days, and those two survived only because the men in charge of them refused to recognise defeat and kept going even against the advice of the friends who foresaw in a longer struggle but greater disaster. Of the eight societies which had joined in the formation of the Federation only two were pursuing smoothly the even tenor of their way, free from the irritating worries produced by the difficulty of making ends meet. These two societies—Thornliebank and Barrhead—were associated with the Bakery from the very first meeting, and being successful they were in a position to pay their way promptly; but some of the others were not so fortunate, and so, in October of the first year, we find the manager being instructed by the committee to write to the societies and point out to them that as the capital was limited it would be an advantage if payment was made promptly when the accounts were rendered. Frequently during the next few years the same complaint crops up, and there were times when the Society was owing the S.C.W.S. large sums of money which at the moment it was quite unable to pay because of the fact that the societies were not paying promptly for the goods they received.
The third quarterly meeting took place on 4th December. Although there is nothing about it in earlier minutes, a hint is given that the committee or the manager had not been keeping to the strict line of instructions given at the August quarterly meeting, for a motion is agreed to “that the alteration in the price of bread take place on the same day as the Glasgow prices.” A profit had been made on the quarter’s transactions, but it was not large enough to divide, and the delegates gave authority to the committee “to apply it to redeem fixed stock.” About this time the Society was having trouble with the quality of flour purchased. The flour was returned, and the manager was authorised to cancel the order if that sent in exchange was not of better quality. The committee at the close of their first year were discussing the necessity of getting more ovens, as the old bakery was quite inadequate to meet the trade which was being done. It was agreed to endeavour to get other two ovens; and, failing that solution of the difficulty, to see if a nightshift could be employed. Later minutes are silent as to how the difficulty was overcome during the three months which elapsed ere the new bakery in St James Street, Kinning Park, was ready for occupation.
SOMETHING ATTEMPTED, SOMETHING DONE.
During the first year the committee had been feeling their way. They had met and overcome many difficulties, some of which, like the incident of the chairman and secretary hunting up a recalcitrant baker in the small hours of the morning in order to induce him to go to work, have a humorous enough aspect when viewed at a distance of fifty years, but must have seemed tragic to the actors, for the whole future of the infant venture would seem bound up in an unbroken sequence of bread deliveries. For the first year the committee met in the premises of the S.C.W.S. in Madeira Court. Usually the meeting place was the warehouse, for the room in which Mr Borrowman worked was but small, although it possessed the only window in the place. There they fitted up a temporary table, using boxes for seats. Indeed, so long as Mr Borrowman continued secretary of the Baking Society, the committee continued to meet frequently in the Wholesale’s premises, although the sub-committee usually met in a small room, 10 ft. by 6 ft., fitted up in the bakery premises at St James Street. At times the full committee of sixteen met here also, packed together like herrings. Such were the conditions to which those heroes of the Co-operative vanguard accommodated themselves in order that the cause they had at heart might prosper.
During the first year the Society had baked 2,116 sacks of flour, equivalent to an average turnover of 40¾ sacks per week; but as the turnover during the latter part of the year was approximately 70 sacks per week, it must have been much less than 40 at the beginning. For the first six months losses amounting to £62, 10s. had been made, but in the second six months these losses had been wiped out, the fittings had been depreciated by over £30, and although no dividend was declared they had a balance of surplus to carry forward which amounted to £23, 3s. 1d. The value of the goods sold during the year had been £5,081, 13s. 6d.; the value of the fixed and live stock was £243, 15s. 8d.; and the value of their building, as shown in the balance-sheet, £110, 9s. 6d. The societies held share capital amounting to £193, 12s. and loan capital amounting to £145, and £10, 6s. 1d. had been paid as interest. Thus the position was quite good. The corner had been turned; a surplus was being shown most weeks, and the directors were assured that with careful nursing and a steady influx of trade prosperity was in sight. Many rocky headlands had yet to be weathered, many shoals avoided, adverse winds and tides overcome, ere their bark reached the wide open sea of prosperity; but the mariners were shrewd and careful, and although for one reason and another several changes of captain and even of crew took place, the new crews and the new captains sailed their ship always with the skill of the old and, successfully overcoming all difficulties, were at last wafted by fair winds over a smooth sea.