Trago Mills

Trago Mills

File:Trago logo.png
Company type	Private
Industry	Retail
Founder	Mike Robertson
Number of locations	4 (Falmouth, Liskeard, Newton Abbot, Merthyr Tydfil)
Area served	Southwest England and South Wales
Owner	Bruce Robertson
Website	www.trago.co.uk

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Newton Abbot outlet.

Trago Mills operates a network of four department store outlets situated in southern Cornwall, southern Devon, and south Wales. Adjacent to the Newton Abbot location, the company also manages an amusement park alongside several independently owned businesses.

Three of the stores are positioned on the outskirts of towns: in Liskeard (Cornwall), Newton Abbot (Devon), and Merthyr Tydfil (Wales), with the fourth located in Falmouth, Cornwall. The retailer is known for offering a broad selection of goods at competitive prices.

Background

Established by entrepreneur Mike Robertson, the business began when he acquired the Liskeard property in the early 1960s after relocating to Cornwall following the passing of his wife.

Sites

In 1978, Charles Hunt from St Neot, Liskeard, was commissioned to design the buildings for the Liskeard and Newton Abbot stores. These structures feature a distinctive castle-like appearance characterized by white towers and windows framed in black.

The company has also trialled smaller retail formats, including a 'Trago Mini Mart'.Template:Fix/category

Liskeard

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Political statues displayed outside the Liskeard store

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Pond with statues

The inaugural Trago Mills outlet originated in Liskeard, initially operating from a modest shed where founder Mike Robertson sold merchandise he had sourced during visits to larger towns. The present-day Liskeard store is situated approximately five miles west of the town near Two Waters Foot off the A38 road. The site encompasses extensive parkland and lakes and hosts several other local enterprises. Statues are prominently placed at the entrance, including one depicting Attorney General Sir Michael Havers QC MP, inscribed with the biblical proverb: Template:Blockquote from Matthew chapter 7 verses 1–5 (commonly known as The Mote and the Beam).

Newton Abbot

Spanning over 100 acres (0.4 km²), the Newton Abbot location is the largest among the four sites. It hosts a variety of independent enterprises. Among them is a garden centre, which holds the distinction of being the biggest in the southwest, which was inaugurated in 2009. The following year, a new dining establishment was introduced on-site.

In October 2004, the main building at this branch suffered a significant fire. The fire required the response of thirty fire engines and over two hundred firefighters, marking it as one of Devon’s most severe fires in recent years. The affected structures were subsequently fully reconstructed.

During the summer of 2016, Trago2Clear, a clearance outlet dedicated to all Trago products, ceased operations. On 28 September 2016, demolition work was carried out on the Old Clearance Shed along with the former Sarah's Pantry Cafe. By summer 2017, a new DIY and Trade centre valued at £3 million was launched.

In July 2022, the petrol station located at this site became recognized as the most affordable fuel retailer in the UK, offering prices nearly 25p below the national average. This led to extended queues forming on adjacent roads.

Trago Family Fun Park

Adjacent to the Newton Abbot store lies the leisure facility known as Trago Family Fun Park, which was established soon after the permanent store structures were completed and now spans over 100 acres (0.40 km²). Key attractions include:

• The Bickington Steam Railway, a narrow-gauge railway with a 10¼-inch track that travels from the leisure park’s centre to the main car park, encircles three lakes, and returns to the 'Leisure Central' station.
• The OO gauge Trago Mills Model Railway, finalized in 1989 following a year of effort by a group of 18 enthusiasts. Measuring 88 by 14 feet (26.8 by 4.3 m), it held the title of the UK's largest model railway upon completion. It operates Friday through Sunday and is maintained by a devoted caretaker.
• Eagle Go-Karts imported from the United States, an indoor ice rink, a shooting range, remote-controlled trucks and boats, trampolines, and miniature golf. The park also offers picnic spots and an animal enclosure featuring horses, donkeys, pigs, and other creatures.
• Nearby amenities include small retail outlets, cafés, and restaurants offering local specialties such as fish and chips and freshly made fudge.

Falmouth

The Falmouth location near the National Maritime Museum Cornwall is the smallest among the four stores.

Merthyr Tydfil

After nearly ten years of ownership of a former factory site in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, construction commenced on a new shopping centre in autumn 2016. This multimillion-pound development features 17 small towers and officially opened its doors in April 2018.

Controversies and legal disputes

At the Liskeard store entrance, statues representing local politicians and officials whom the owner perceived as opponents to his development serve as a form of "welcome" for visitors. Opposition may have stemmed partly from instances where construction proceeded without prior planning approvalTemplate:Fix/category.

Robertson’s advertisements in local newspapers led to three publications being successfully sued for libel by Sir Edward Heath, after some remarks became highly personal.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Robertson ran ads advocating for the castration of homosexual men. The United Kingdom Advertising Standards Authority ruled against Trago Mills in 1998 and required all such advertisements to be withdrawn. Nevertheless, Trago occasionally publishes provocative advertisements; for instance, one titled "For any cash strapped Moslems reading this…" appeared in the Falmouth Packet in 2009 promoting a book by senior UKIP figure David Challice.

Robertson and his successor Bruce have expressed support for Eurosceptic political parties, most recently backing the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). Robertson once threatened to continue using imperial measurements in his stores as a protest against what he attributed to EU-driven Metrication in the United Kingdom. Currently, Trago sells products primarily in metric units with imperial equivalents where legally required. He opposes broad immigration from Eastern Europe but supports more targeted job-specific immigration policies, taking a somewhat more lenient stance than some UKIP members. In January 2007, Mid Devon Star highlighted perceived hypocrisy since approximately 30 Polish workers were employed at his substantial Newton Abbot site.

In September 2011, after admitting to five violations of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, Trago Mills was fined £199,588 following the discovery of thousands of tonnes of illegally dumped waste—including asbestos—at its Newton Abbot and Liskeard locations. This penalty was later reduced to £65,000 in January 2012 when an Exeter Crown Court judge acknowledged that Trago Mills had incurred nearly £500,000 in cleanup expenses.

In 2014, Trago Mills appeared on BBC's Fake Britain after Cornwall Trading Standards found counterfeit premium shampoo being sold at one of its stores. Management stated that these items had been sourced from what they believed to be reputable suppliers and noted that the counterfeit goods were so similar to genuine products that only laboratory testing could confirm their authenticity. Cornwall Trading Standards subsequently closed their investigation.

Following the launch of its Merthyr Tydfil store in June 2018, some community members threatened to boycott after Robertson publicly criticised bilingual education and described signage featuring both English and Welsh as "visual clutter".

Trago Mills Ltd (Aircraft Division)

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The FLS Sprint displayed at the fly-in event held at Bodmin Airfield on 3 May 2008.

During the early 1980s, Trago Mills embarked on developing and manufacturing its own aircraft intended for sale to the British military as a trainer, aiming to succeed the outdated "Bulldog" models. This initiative led to the creation of the Trago Mills SAH-1, which had its maiden flight on 23 August 1983. Although the armed forces ultimately did not adopt it, ownership of the design has transferred multiple times since then, with the most recent iteration being the FLS Sprint.

External links

• Official Trago Mills website
• Bickington Steam Railway information
• Aerial photograph of Merthyr Tydfil Trago Mills