Scottish auctions obsolete?

28 July 1998

Scottish auctions ‘obsolete’?

ONE of Scotlands most senior auctioneers has been made redundant amid widespread concern that the livestock auction system was “obsolete”.

Willie Blair, of John Swan & Sons, Edinburgh and St Boswells, was a former president of the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers for Scotland. He was due to retire in under two years.

His redundancy comes after a wave of mart closures on both sides of the Border.

Major David Walter, a farmer of Balthayock, Perth, issued the general condemnation of marts in general.

There are 20 corporate auctioneering companies in Scotland, with 35 marts handling more than £250 million-worth of store stock and £235m of prime stock. In the UK, 45% of prime cattle and 65% of prime lambs are sold through live marts.

• The Scotsman 28/07/98 page 26