History of the United Co-operative Baking Society Ltd.

by William Reid

STILL MORE EXTENSIONS.

The year 1890 was the year in which the Co-operative Congress was last held in Glasgow. There had been an earlier Congress held in the city—in 1876—but it passed without much note being taken of it, and seemingly without having had much influence save on those who were in close touch with it. It was different with the Congress of 1890, however. It gave an impetus to Co-operation in the city which was felt by every society, and the effects of which have not died out even yet. It was like that first strong push which overcomes the inertia of a snowball at the top of a steep slope, and sends it rolling down hill, ever increasing in speed and in size as it rolls on. To some extent the ground had been prepared for the Congress by the Wholesale Society in its erection of the buildings at Shieldhall; an evidence of the life of Co-operation in the city which could not fail to appeal to the imaginations of a commercial people like the Glaswegians; and by the opening of the new bakery at M‘Neil Street, and the big Co-operative demonstration which accompanied that opening. Shieldhall and M‘Neil Street might be likened to the gentle rain which watered the feeble plant of Co-operation in the city, and the 1890 Congress to the sun, the warmth of whose rays caused it to blossom and grow strong.

Co-operation made itself manifest in various ways during Congress week. The Bakery was thronged with visitors; flags floated gaily from the tops of the buildings, and a grand Co-operative procession took place through the city, during which the lifeboat “Co-operator” was launched on the Clyde. The directors of the Baking Society were not slow to take advantage of all this enthusiasm for Co-operation. They took a stall at the Congress Exhibition of Co-operative productions, and attracted much attention by the high quality of the goods shown. The result was that the trade of the new biscuit department received a send off it might not otherwise have secured. Many orders were booked during the Exhibition week, and others came flowing in for weeks afterwards.

At the 85th quarterly meeting, held just at the close of Congress, the chairman made the new biscuit factory the text of his opening remarks to the delegates, pointing out the facilities which the Society now enjoyed for carrying on this trade, and impressing on them the desirability of fostering it in the societies by every means in their power. The result was that the trade developed at a rapid rate. At first the committee had been in doubt as to whether sufficient trade could be secured to keep the one travelling oven which they had erected fully employed, but almost from the start these doubts were resolved. Another source of gratification was to be found in the fact that the societies were well pleased with the quality of the biscuits which were being made, and that a fair return was being secured on the trade done. Arrangements had been made with the Wholesale Society at the beginning of the new department, whereby that society became agents for biscuits, but some misunderstanding seems to have arisen, for towards the end of the year the society wrote to the Baking Society’s committee, complaining that the terms of the agreement between the two societies with regard to the biscuit agency were not being adhered to. This led to meetings between the two boards, as a result of which all the difficulties were removed, and an immediate increase in the trade in biscuits amongst the societies in Scotland followed.

STILL FURTHER EXTENSIONS.

The bread trade of the Society also continued to increase at an extraordinary rate. So much so that, by the beginning of 1891, nine months after the opening of the last addition to the bakery, the trade was within fourteen sacks of the full output capacity of 1,000 sacks per week. The directors saw that some steps must be taken at once to increase baking capacity, and applied to the quarterly meeting for power to take over or to sell St James Street property, and at the same time for power to acquire land for the purpose of extending the bakery. Power in both directions was granted, although a director of the Wholesale Society, acting, he stated, on the authority of his board, moved that power be not granted. Evidently, however, this gentleman had misunderstood the attitude of the Wholesale Society’s directors, for subsequently a letter was received from the secretary of that federation, in which it was stated that they had given no instructions to oppose the extension of the Baking Society’s premises, and that, in fact, they were in favour of this course being taken.

St James Street premises were offered for sale at £3,960, and again at £3,600, but there were no offerers. Ultimately, however, they were disposed of for £3,100.

The intention of the committee was to purchase the block of ground adjoining the bakery at the corner of Govan Street and South York Street, but as they considered that the price which was being asked was too great, it was decided to proceed with the erection of an addition at the north end of the present property in M‘Neil Street. The plans of the extension, when completed, showed provision for twenty-seven ovens additional, which would allow a trade of 1,650 sacks per week to be done. At the same time, steps were taken to add another flat to the stables, and to remove the office to the first flat of the biscuit factory.

NEW BUILDING COLLAPSES.

Satisfactory progress was being made with the new building and the addition had been nearly completed when a disaster occurred which caused much of the work to be done over again. One of the tie-rods in the north portion of the building broke, with the result that the whole arch gave way, falling through the two floors beneath and carrying them with it, as well as the first and second floors in the southern section of the building. The result was that a large portion of the walls had to be taken down and rebuilt, the cost of the damage being at least £1,000, in addition to the delay occasioned. Investigations into the cause of the collapse did not result in any definite cause being discovered, although the engineers who made the investigation reported several points which, in combination, were likely to have been responsible. This collapse had occurred in August, but so expeditious were the builders that by the beginning of December the Society was getting the use of five ovens, and by the beginning of March 1893 the whole of the addition was ready for occupancy.