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FAMOUS FOR ITS CATS WITH NO TAILS, THREE-LEGGED EMBLEM AND motorcycle races, The Isle of Man is one of the U.K.'s treasures which should be better known. Situated in the middle of the Irish Sea surrounded by Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, the island has a small population which is swelled by thousands of tourists in the summer months. Companies in the island have to cope with the fluctuating number of visitors. "The total resident population numbers around 75,000," says John Horsthuis, managing director of Robinson's, the island's leading wholesaler and retailer of fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers , " and around 300,000 tourists visit the island each year, although this number is declining." |
| Robinson's has a long history. It began with one small shop in Douglas more than 120 years ago and is still a family concern. Ownership of the business passed down the generations on the female side of the family and John's father, a Dutchman, took over the running of the company following the Second World War. He sent his four sons to university. John studied politics and economics at the London School of Economics before returning to the Isle of Man in 1972 to work in the company. |
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The decision was taken to expand the operation beyond the retail outlets and to supply supermarkets and the catering trade. Robinson's now supplies one of the island's major supermarkets, Shoprite, and Isle of man based firm which has eight outlets. |
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The other major food retailers on the island are Tesco, Marks & Spencer which has a 40,000 sq.ft. store, Safeways which has two stores and a total of eight smaller Co-operative stores. "We now have more than 150 staff," says John, " and operate from a distribution base including 40,000 sq.ft. of chilled and frozen storage on a 60 acre site on the outskirts of Douglas." Part of the site is leased for the growing of vegetables - potatoes, cabbage and lettuce and 28 acres is set aside for further development.
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