Trago Mills

Trago Mills is a chain of British department stores situated in the Westcountry. They are sited in the town of Falmouth, and on the outskirts of two other towns at Liskeard, Cornwall and Newton Abbot, Devon. As large department stores were formerly sparse in the rural Westcountry, Trago has become well known for its wide variety of stock and low-price image.

The first store was the Liskeard store, which started life as a small shed, selling items founder Mike Robertson had bought on trips "up-country". The current Liskeard store, situated 5 miles west of the town just off the A38, has several acres of parkland and lakes stocked with Koi Carp. It also accommodates several independent businesses, including a newsagent, a butcher and a bakery. The Liskeard store attracts shoppers from all over Cornwall, as well as Plymouth. A particularly distinguishing feature of Trago Mills is the architecture of the buildings at Liskeard and Newton Abbot and the soon to be opened new branch at Merthyr Tydfil designed by Charles Hunt of St Neot, Liskeard Cornwall who was appointed architect in 1978, and has been their architect ever since. The Falmouth store is the smallest of the three, and it is sited near the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. The Newton Abbot site is the largest of the three and covers convert|100|acre|km2 of land and includes a family leisure park, including a miniature steam railway, Supa Karts and a model railway featured on "Blue Peter". There is also a food corner with Fish & Chips, pasta, burger bars and Warrens Bakery for pasties. An indoor ice skating rink was added recently.

In October 2004 a large fire broke out in the main building of the Newton Abbot branch of Trago Mills. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/news_features/2004/trago_fire/trago_fire.shtml Fire breaks out at Devon shopping village] ] Thirty fire appliances and over 200 fire fighters tackled the blaze. The fire was the largest to occur in the county of Devon for several years. The building(s) involved are now completely rebuilt.

The chain is owned by local businessman Bruce Robertson, son of founder Mike Robertson. He has faced controversy for adverts which he took out in the local paper containing anti-homosexual views. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/505002.stm Court battle over "offensive" ad rants] ] Bruce is also a major supporter of United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), famously refusing to stop using imperial measures in his stores despite contravening European Union law. Despite his opposition to immigration from countries in Eastern Europe, Robertson was revealed in January 2007 to be employing around 30 migrants from Poland in his Newton Abbot store. [cite news|first=David|last=Hencke|title=Anti-European boss criticised for 'hypocrisy' over Polish staff|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/immigration/story/0,,1983940,00.html|work=Guardian Unlimited|date=2007-01-06|accessdate=2007-02-23]

Trago Mills Ltd (Aircraft Division).

In the early 1980s, Trago Mills elected to design and build its own aircraft that could be sold onto the British military as a trainer to replace the then aging "Bulldog" fleet. The result was the Trago Mills SAH-1, which first flew on 23 August 1983.

The SAH-1 was passed over by the armed forces, and in the intervening years, the rights to the design have changed hands several times.

References

External links

* [http://www.trago.co.uk/ Trago Mills]
* [http://www.itsmymarket.com/blogs/pasty-muncher/trago-mills-shopping-heaven-or-pasty-muncher-hell/ Trago Mills Market Blog]
* [http://www.devfire.gov.uk/content.cfm?lev=1&page=13&news=213 Fire Service debrief into 2004 fire]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=BLOGDETAIL&grid=F11&blog=webnews&xml=/news/2006/01/24/bltcuk24.xml Early history under Mike Robertson]