Here is the Third chapter of the CPU Enterprises Story which was originally sent in the CPU Winter 2008/9 Newsletter - emailed out to customers on 03.02.09. Written by Peter
If you read the story so far in previous Newsletters [available to read again on the website - Carole], you will know that we had just got our General Store. After a while I became a bit restless and wanted to expand, so we decided to branch out into light haulage. Although this appears to be a completely new direction, we already had a transit van so all we had to do was find work for it. This came in the form of a contract with W.H.Smith delivering newspapers to shops in the villages around Peterborough. This was great as I started at 3.30 in the morning and finished at 7.30am six days a week so I could still work in the shop - and it was not a bad little earner.
Next came work for the fruit and veg wholesaler who supplied the shop. This started at 9am so I just about got time for breakfast and could help Dianne open up the shop. At first it was just mornings but this soon expanded into afternoon deliveries to local shops and then evening collections from local farms. Although I was working from 3.30am to sometimes 9pm I was really enjoying the variety this gave in my life for a couple of years. I can't say that Dianne enjoyed it as she was often in the shop on her own all day.
At this point I should also tell you that I was smoking 80 cigarettes a day, this will become relevant in the next newsletter. Luckily our shop sold my brand so it didn't cost too much - well not in money anyway.
Back to the Veg - inevitably the bubble burst. The veg wholesaler decided to sell up to a larger company who did not require my services. However I did get offered a no longer needed box lorry at a very reasonable price as a thank you for all my hard work. After discussing this with Dianne, who had by now insisted on employing part time help in the shop, we decided to buy the lorry and turn it into a mobile shop to serve the local villages. With help from a willing relative this is exactly what we did and, even if I say so myself, it was a great success and service which was apparently sorely missed when we left the shop in 1978.
Why did we leave the shop?
Well that's for next time....
Chapter Four of the CPU Enterprises Story
No comments:
Post a Comment