§ Mr. WILFRID WHITELEYasked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs to what extent the venture of the Empire Marketing Board in opening an Empire shop in Birmingham has been attended with success?
1955W
Mr. THOMASI am glad to say that I have every reason to believe that the establishment by the Empire Marketing Board of an Empire shop in Birmingham has been a successful contribution to the object in view, namely, to further the marketing in this country of Empire produce from home and overseas. The Empire Marketing Board leased shop premises at 61, High Street, Birmingham, for a period of approximately six months from the 26th January last and transformed them into an "Empire shop" for the purpose of enabling the Home Departments of Agriculture and the various Empire Governments overseas to make displays and sell samples of their produce. The shop has been occupied in turn for fortnightly periods each by the English Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Agriculture for Scotland and the Ministry of Agriculture for Northern Ireland, His Majesty's Governments, in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa and the Irish Free State, and the Governments of India and Southern Rhodesia. In addition the English Ministry of Agriculture has had a second tenancy for the purpose of making a special display of National Mark produce. The displays thus staged have attracted continuous public attention in Birmingham and over 200,000 individual samples of Empire foodstuffs have been sold to the public. The Board's shop has received the fullest measure of assistance and co-operation from the wholesale and retail trades. Reports received from trade sources indicate increased inquiries for Empire products from the public and a substantial increase in the sale of a number of Empire foodstuffs.