Diary of a Shopkeeper, 6th November

I had an interesting conversation with a customer the other day. It was so interesting that, although it started in the shop, it ran over into my lunch break and we continued our talk over a flat white in a coffee emporium down the street.

Two espresso shots and a leaf etched in foamy milk! The mid-day meal of champions!

The topic of our conversation was Orkney Islands Council. My friend had noticed I’d mentioned it several times in recent Diaries, mostly in connection with the unfortunate winding up of the Economic Recovery Steering Group, and the doubt that cast over the ASPIRE project.

‘Ambitious,’ I said, ‘Sustainable, Prosperous, Inclusive, Resilient, Enterprising.’

‘Fine words,’ he said, ‘But you know what fine words do.’

‘I suppose you mean they butter no parsnips,’ I said. ‘But I don’t like butter on my parsnips. I like them rolled in olive oil, with Parmesan grated over the top. Baked in the oven for half an hour, they’re a meal fit for a king. Or a democratically elected chief executive.’

‘You’re making me hungry,’ he said.

It was at this point we headed out for coffee and a snack.

‘Those aspirational words,’ he said, ‘Those abstractions. They’re all very well: no one’s going to disagree with them. Everybody wants Orkney to be Inclusive. And if they don’t, kick the swines out!’

I laughed.

‘But what do you want the OIC to do. You as a business. What do you want? Grants? Loans? Subsidies?’

‘None of those,’ I said.

He looked surprised.

‘Well,’ I went on, ‘Occasionally there might be some support to train staff or redevelop an old building. Great: it’s the council investing in local skills and infrastructure. But it’s not really what I’m hoping for.’

‘So what do you want?’

‘Leadership,’ I said. ‘Vision.’

Now he laughed.

‘I’m serious,’ I said. ‘Shopkeepers are mostly concerned with finding good stock at the right price, and working out staff rotas, and looking after customers. We wonder if we can afford a new electronic till next year, and we plan for that. And we draw up designs for shop-fitting and work out budgets and contract suppliers. We even think about what we’re going to sell at Christmas.’

‘We all think about Christmas.’

‘Ah, but I’m talking about Christmas 2024: this next one was sorted out many months ago. So there is forward planning and creative thinking for our own businesses, our own staff. Up at School Place, though, they have the time and resources to think far more broadly and further into the future.’

‘And that’s what you want a vision of?’

‘Exactly. What’s Orkney going to be like in 20 or 30 years? Do we want a growing population? If so, where’s everyone going to live? Are we going to develop a circular economy where as much money as possible is kept in the economy, or are we going to continue letting tens of millions of pounds flow south every year? What about specific industries – tourism for instance. Some folk think it accounts for 50% of the total local economy.’
‘I heard 40%,’ he said.

‘Whether it’s 50 or 40 or 30% it’s enormous,’ I said. ‘What’s the council’s strategy? Do they want to grow it or cap it? What kind of tourism? Individual or group? Wild campers or cruise liners? This is the kind of vision we want from the council: properly researched, well thought through, clearly communicated. Ambitious, Sustainable, Prosperous, Inclusive, Resilient, Enterprising.’

‘Pass me the butter,’ he said, ‘I’ve got some parsnips that need my attention.’

This diary appeared in The Orcadian on 9th November 2022. A new one appears weekly. I post them in this blog a few days after each newspaper appearance, with added illustrations., and occasional small corrections or additions.