The growth of a great organisation may be likened to that of a river. Away up in the mountains where the river takes its rise every stone has weight to turn it aside. It trickles down the hillside with noisy babble, here almost stagnant, there going forward with a rush; ever gathering strength as it is joined by other streams. But by and by it reaches the plain. The strength of its rush down the hillside carries it forward with gradually diminishing pace until finally it subsides into an easy forward motion, placid and smooth, yet deep enough and strong enough to bear on its broad breast the ships of a hundred nations.
So it has been with the U.C.B.S. At first it was like the tiny rivulet, directed hither and thither by the rocks in its path, with its progress seemingly altogether arrested for a time, then going forward again with a rush and gathering impetus as it went. The last great rush may be said to have been taken when it transferred to M‘Neil Street. Its progress down to the final placidity of the valley was rapid but gradually diminishing in speed as it reached the level of the plain, so that having traversed the hills of difficulty and gathered to itself tributaries as it flowed onward, it was now settled into a strong but smooth onward flow. Henceforth the difficulties and dangers were gone; henceforth also was gone the rapidity of the current of prosperity; to be replaced by calm, steady progress which swept forward with the irresistible strength of a mighty river. No longer was there doubling of output in a year or two; no more was it necessary to add extension to extension in order to keep pace with a rapidly growing trade; yet an increase in turnover which averaged 250 sacks per week in a year and 1,000 sacks a week in four years was made. It was a huge increase; actually it was larger than any which had gone before it; yet it was not so impressive as the smaller increases which had preceded, for in relation to the total trade it was much smaller.
EXTENSIONS.
It was not that the work of the Society was not going forward as rapidly in the years 1905 to 1910 as it had done in preceding years, for the progress made in those four years was probably greater than ever before; but that the gradually increasing volume did not call for the same feverish exertion as formerly. In reality the work done during this period was probably the greatest in the history of the Federation until then, and the extensions were also probably the largest. St Mungo Halls were completed; Belfast Bakery was built and extended; while Clydebank Bakery was more than doubled in size. Then the new offices of the Society at the Adelphi Street corner of M‘Neil Street were also erected, making total additions to the value of the Society’s property of something like £40,000. There were other minor alterations and additions also, such as the covering in of Hayfield Street in order to convert it into a garage. Altogether the additions to the productive departments alone were such as allowed an additional turnover of over 1,000 sacks per week.
The new offices were not built before they were required. The old offices had sufficed indifferently well for the needs of the Society when they were built, but the continuous and rapid extension of the business soon made them altogether inadequate, and by the time the new offices were ready for occupation the old ones were absolutely crowded out.
The new offices were built to meet all emergencies, however, and during the eight years in which they have been occupied have proved quite adequate for the growing business needs of the Society and its ever-increasing staff. Just before building was commenced, lengthy negotiations which had been proceeding between the Society and the Corporation of Glasgow for land between the building line and the river were completed through the purchase by the Corporation of the land for £1,000; the Corporation agreeing, in addition, to make and maintain the street. This was a good bargain for the Society, for they had obtained £700 more for the land than it had cost them; while a good part of that £700 would have been swallowed up in making the new street. The covering in of, first, the stable courtyard and, later, of Hayfield Street was also excellent business, which made for the comfort and convenience of the men and horses, and was well worth the £670 which the two operations cost.
THE QUALITY OF THE BREAD.
For a long time little had been heard of complaints about the quality of the bread, but towards the end of 1905 these became so numerous that the committee called a conference of the foremen in the various departments for the purpose of discussing the matter. The case, as put by the committee, was that they were supplying the best materials, that they were paying good wages and giving the best conditions of labour, and that, naturally, they looked for good results. The serious nature of some of the complaints was emphasised by the convener of the productive committee; while Mr Young stated that the last six months had been the worst for ten years, and hoped that a strong effort would be made to maintain the high reputation of the bakery. The runners, in replying, one and all complained of the inferior quality of the flour, especially that which was used in sponging. They also pointed out that the rush to get ready for the morning deliveries was, to a very large extent, responsible for the inferior quality, owing to the limited time allowed for preparing, proving, and firing. A few suggestions were made which it was thought would make for improvement.
THE TEAROOMS.
During most of these years the tearooms continued to be the “lame dog” of the Society. Little or no improvement took place, and balance-sheet after balance-sheet showed a loss in working or an infinitesimal profit. The question cropped up regularly at the quarterly meetings, and countless suggestions for improvement were made. Particularly was this the case with regard to catering for the less wealthy class of the community. A conference with the respective heads of the tearooms took place, with the object of going into the whole question, but it does not seem to have borne much fruit. The suggestions made, as recorded in the minutes, were of a negative character, and nothing was done. Later, Mr Towart, purvey department, was put in charge of London Street and Paisley Road Rooms for a month, with the object of seeing what could be done to improve the position. On the result of Mr Towart’s experiment the minutes are silent; but, from the fact that in less than six months thereafter the Wheatsheaf Rooms were bought over by the manageress, it would seem that it did not give much hope of success for that branch at least.