Economy
The Mount Stuart Trust owns 28,000 acres on the island and is wholly controlled by five members of the Marquess of Bute’s family, plus an accountant and lawyer. None of them live on Bute.
Farming and tourism are the main industries on the island, along with fishing and forestry. Privately owned businesses include Telecom Service Centres (TSC), Port Bannatyne Marina and Boat Yard, the Ardmaleish Boatbuilding Company, Bute Fabrics Ltd, (an international weaver of contemporary woollen fabrics for upholstery and vertical applications), and the Scottish Mead Company.
The local radio station, Bute FM, found itself at the centre of a local controversy in 2010 after presenter Michael Blair was sacked and several volunteers walked out in sympathy. The situation was apparently exacerbated when the a phone-in show was prevented from airing complaints from listeners about the incident. The show's presenter resigned in protest stating that "for a community radio show to tell listeners they can't have their say on a show called 'Have Your Say' is just incredible."
Read more about this topic: Isle Of Bute
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“The basis of political economy is non-interference. The only safe rule is found in the self-adjusting meter of demand and supply. Do not legislate. Meddle, and you snap the sinews with your sumptuary laws.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Everyone is always in favour of general economy and particular expenditure.”
—Anthony, Sir Eden (1897–1977)
“The counting-room maxims liberally expounded are laws of the Universe. The merchant’s economy is a coarse symbol of the soul’s economy. It is, to spend for power, and not for pleasure.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)