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Meet the couple who sold millions of newspapers at McHardy’s in Aberdeen

Former McHardy's Old Town newsagents Moira and Owen Bisset
A very special couple: Moira and Owen Bisset who served the newspaper industry across four decades.

Newspapers like the P&J and Evening Express owe an immense debt of gratitude to those who deliver and sell their products.

The quantities of papers sold by individual shops over the decades like the popular McHardy’s at 39, High Street, Old Aberdeen are eye-watering.

In fact under the ownership of Moira and Owen Bisset, McHardy’s sold just under one million P&Js alone and almost half a million copies of the Evening Express.

Moira and Owen in the good old days at McHardy's.
Moira and Owen in the good old days at McHardy’s. Image: Bisset/Flannery.

It takes dedication and commitment to run an operation like McHardy’s, a family business from the mid-Fifties.

Up in the early hours to ensure customers had their papers in time for breakfast, selling later editions and evening papers well into the afternoon, with no rest on Sundays, newsagents were the social media platform of their day.

Moira and Owen ran McHardy’s across four decades – from 1976 – and although retired from the business for some 15 years, they look back on those days with fondness.

Original owners, Frank and Bessie McHardy, proudly stand in front of the shop
Frank and Bessie McHardy proudly stand in front of the shop. Image: Bisset/Flannery.

It was Moira’s grandparents, Frank and Bessie, who started the original McHardy’s, a Post Office and shop as well as a newsagents, in 1957.

Frank had been a POW during the war, and came back to work on the railways.

Bessie had a shrewd eye and spotted that the shop in Old Aberdeen was coming up for lease.

By happy coincidence, Moira was working in the very solicitor’s office which was handling the conveyancing, so it was a family concern from the start.

Bessie had been a silver service waitress at the University, so she recognised the potential of a business situated near King’s College.

It was a family affair in the early '60s when Moira joined to train in the Post Office side.
It was a family affair in the early ’60s when Moira joined to train in the Post Office side. Image: Bisset/Flannery.

Frank and Bessie ran the Post Office, shop and newsagents for almost twenty years.

During this time, Bessie found she enjoyed the buzz of the retail side most, so she invited Moira to train in the Post Office side in around 1964.

By this time Moira, born during the war in Airdrie and brought up in Aberdeen, had met and married Owen.

“We met at the dancing in the Beach Ballroom in about 1956,” Moira said. “We just seemed to get together, and we managed to see plenty of each other with me working at the solicitors in Crown Street, and Owen working for the council and having to come to the solicitors as part of his job.”

By 1960 the pair were engaged, and they married at Ferryhill North Church in 1962.

The couple recently celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in style at the Atholl Hotel.

Moira and Owen Bisset celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary at the Atholl Hotel
Moira and Owen Bisset celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary at the Atholl Hotel, Aberdeen on September 23, 2022. Image: Kay Mitchell (McHardy).

Owen is originally from Banff.

His father ran a grocery business in Rothiemay, but after he died young, Owen’s mother sold the business and moved the family to the Ferryhill area of town.

Owen did his apprenticeship as a joiner with the builder DC Stewart.

“It was the chance of a lifetime which I’ll never forget,” says Owen.

It was there Owen discovered he had a talent for architectural drawing, and he ended up using it in the service of Aberdeen County Council, later to become Grampian Regional Council until he retired in 2002.

But this didn’t stop him from becoming involved with McHardy’s once he and Moira took over the running of it in 1976 after Frank and Bessie retired.

Owen was up early doors

Getting up at the crack of dawn, Owen would be there to sort the newspapers and make sure they were delivered.

After that, back to the office for his normal work shift.

On Sundays, Owen let Moira have a lie-in by taking on the Sunday newspaper sales.

Moira said: “Sunday morning was a real get together for a lot of men, he seemed to spend more time chatting than selling newspapers.”

Owen became a member of the Newspaper Federation, becoming a councillor and attending monthly conferences in Perth and Stirling.

He appears in the Federation’s Roll of Honour.

McHardy's shelves
McHardy’s shelves groaned with magazines and newspapers for their diverse clients. Image: Bisset/Flannery.

The couple loved the buzz of their location in Old Aberdeen.

Moira said: “Sometimes it was like the league of nations, we had customers from all over the world visiting the university or attending conferences.

“In summer there were very big conferences, and we would deliver the papers so they had them before breakfast.

Busy times at McHardy’s

“There was a lot of movement, lecturers and staff getting their papers. We would order whatever they wanted for them, including the international press.

“In summer there was also the youth festival and the football festival.

“They were busy days, with such a lot of nice people.”

The Post Office closed under re-organisation in 2004.

The couple pictured at home
The couple pictured at home where they have been looking back on their time in the shop. Picture: Kath Flannery.

Moira and Owen retired in 2007, and the shop changed hands.

The couple still own the flat above the shop which they let out to students.

Seeing to the flat takes them back to 39 High Street from time to time.

Moira said: “We still know people there and they shout over, ‘when are you coming back?’

“They miss the deliveries, which have stopped.”

A special couple

Moira’s sister Kay Mitchell also worked in the business on both the Post Office and newsagent side.

She paid tribute to the couple, who between them gave over 40 years of service and dedication to the newspaper industry, saying: “They’re a truly special couple.”

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