Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Nando’s row prompts historic north firm to quit business group

Post Thumbnail

An historic family business in the heart of Inverness is quitting the city’s Chamber of Commerce amid a bitter row over plans for new chain restaurants at the retail park.

Duncan Fraser & Son Butcher on Queensgate revealed the move the day after councillors approved an application for branches of Nando’s, Frankie and Benny’s and TGI Fridays at the out-of-town site.

Business leaders in the Highland capital have been divided over the development, with objections being lodged by the city centre organisation Inverness BID and others.

But Inverness Chamber of Commerce infuriated at least one of its members by backing the £13million project.

Former city provost Bill Fraser, whose father established the butcher shop more than a century ago, said he was leaving the chamber in protest.

“I think it’s dreadful – absolute nonsense,” the 88-year-old former councillor told the Press and Journal last night.

“The council are talking about trying to help the city centre do this, that and the next thing.

“We’ve already got plenty of restaurants in the city centre. We don’t need more out there stopping people coming into the city centre. It’s going to harm all of the city centre.

“As far as the Chamber of Commerce is concerned, they’ve got no mandate to do that.

“We’ve decided not to renew our membership. What’s the point of being a member of an organisation that’s trying to take business away?”

Stewart Nicol, chief executive of the chamber, defended the body’s position last night.

“I’ve had a number of discussions with Bill over recent weeks and have discussed the matter with him, outlining that I believe the development is really important for Inverness and the wider Highlands, but also Inverness city centre,” he said.

“And also that I have a remit from a membership and, while he is one of our members, a long-standing member, I have to take a broader focus than perhaps BID can, as they have a narrower focus on the city centre.

“These new restaurants will attract a significant number of visitors to Inverness that would not come without it, and in time I believe that will lead to extra business for the city centre.”