IlluMyFi

Director of his family firm Walker’s Shortbread who turned a simple product into an international brand

Jim Walker, who has died at the age of 80, was one of the UK’s master exporters, turning a simple product into an international brand. The ubiquity of Walker’s Shortbread in the world’s airports and delis has made it a leading brand of the food and drink industry and an exemplar as to how a family business can expand and still retain its independence.

Jim himself was an understated and charming man who led the firm’s growth from its place of origin – the village of Aberlour, Moray, with a population of barely 1,000, tucked away on Speyside in the north-east of Scotland. Between its sites in Aberlour and Elgin, 12 miles away, it grew under his leadership to employ 1,500 people, with a turnover in 2023 of £184m.

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26.12.24 10:00

by theguardian.com

So Gloucester services is the best in Britain? Let a true pitstop connoisseur be...

With its herb garden, deli counter and ‘living roof’, the M5 stop-off is definitely swish. But I’m a Monster Munch man at heart

If you know me, you’ll know there is nothing I like better than a good old-fashioned service station. Where else can you jump out of the car for an overpriced Burger King, a go on a driving arcade game from 1993 and – most importantly – a wee? Service stations are mini utopias, housing everything that a human being needs for basic survival. Come the apocalypse, you’ll find me happily holed up in my nearest Moto.

Rightmove recently published a list of the happiest places to live in Great Britain, and I suppose I can see why that might be of interest. But it was a survey of the UK’s service stations by the consumer group Which? that really caught my eye, partly for its ludicrous claim that “no one visits a motorway service station for fun”. What nonsense. Although with all the hassles of Christmas travel, I suppose some people may fail to find them quite so entertaining. In any case, ranking service stations is old news: my friends and I have been doing so for years.

Rich Pelley is a freelance writer

United States of America