Trago Mills

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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 100 acres 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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3]

[edit] Trago Mills Ltd (Aircraft Division).

The FLS Sprint seen here at the fly-in at Bodmin Airfield, 3 May 2008.

In the early 1980s, Trago Mills elected to design and build its own aircraft. The basic premise was to design an aircraft that could be sold onto the military as a trainer to replace the then aging "Bulldog" fleet. In fact, the similarity between the Trago Mills aircraft and the Bulldog is quite striking. Sydney A. Holloway was the designer, and it was his wish that the aircraft would be named the SAH-1. On August 23, 1983, the Trago Mills SAH-1^[4] took to the skies with Vice Air Marshal Geoffrey Cairns at the controls. Powered by a 118hp Avro Lycoming O-235-L2A flat four cylinder engine, this Cornish designed and manufactured aircraft made its maiden flight from Bodmin (EGLA) airfield. Two years later, on the December 12, 1985, the SAH-1 gained its type certificate, and the fate of the SAH-1 was looking good. In 1987, the plans were sold onto Orca Aircraft. Unfortunately, the slump in the world's economy, meant that general aviation was on the decrease, which left Orca Aircraft bankrupt in 1989. The plans for the SAH-1 again changed hands, this time to FLS Aerospace, who marketed the aircraft as the "FLS Sprint 160". FLS Aerospace produced 5 aircraft between 1993 and 1998, each with the 160hp Textro Lycoming AEIO-320-D1B engine.^[5] The FLS Sprint as the SAH-1 bacame known has changed hands several times in recent history. In 2006 the design was bought by the British Light Aircraft Company Ltd. who subsequently had to sell the design (along with the Edgley Optica survaillance aircraft). The two designs were bought by John Edgley, the Optica's designer and the Sprint is planned to be manufactured as a kit aircraft for the British Homebuilder's Market.^[6]