English shop won’t stock Scots food after Yes vote

A SCOTTISH food maker has been told by an English stockist they will not be welcoming his prize winning oatcakes south of the border if Scotland votes for independence.

By TAMSIN TYESON Friday, 20th June 2014, 10:49 pm

The Your Piece oatcakes. Picture: Contributed

Fife based Dan Connolly started Your Piece Baking Company five years ago, inspired by the taste of his mother-in-law’s real hand made Scottish oatcakes.

Since then, business has grown to offer eight types of oatcake, eight types of shortbread and a breakfast cereal range - all of which proudly emphasise their Scottish credentials and have consistently picked up top awards for taste - and are stocked at farm shops and delis throughout the UK and abroad.

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A customer in Switzerland even let Dan know they had been served up to Mick Jagger and fellow Rolling Stones backstage at a gig in Zurich this month.

However, a farm shop in England, which has not been named, contacted Dan to say that, if come September 18, if the result is ‘Yes’, then it will be saying ‘No’ to Your Piece Baking Company.

The buyer sent an email to Dan to inform him of this change.

The email read: “I regret that although we liked the products, we only support British companies and, given the upcoming Independent Scotland Referendum, we would not consider retailing your products in the same way we don’t retail or support Irish products.

“If the referendum goes for your nation staying with the union then we can re-look at this but as there is a possibility of you becoming a separate nation, we cannot, and would not, support a company which has chosen to base itself in a breakaway country. We as a company support Britain as part of the UK and expect our suppliers to do the same.”

Dan said: “I was really quite shocked and really surprised, but it did make me think that, potentially, there were people out there who could hold these views, given that we send a lot of our products to England. On both sides of the argument you get characters who take these positions. I hope these extreme views are rare.”