Maggie's on song

Election hush, but Stag gets the message …

Mrs Thatcher gave away two secrets in Nottingham—but neither was the date of the next General Election.

In a relaxed “tea-break” atmosphere the Prime Minister told workers at Stag Cabinet Company's new extension in Haydn Road, Sherwood, that she and her husband, Denis, had furniture at home made by a Stag subsidiary.

She is also a frequent reader of magazines and had often spotted “lovely displays” of Stag furniture.

Mrs Thatcher arrived and left the new £300,000 factory extension yesterday to noisy choruses from around 250 demonstrators.

But inside the factory she received an ovation from the workforce.

Her Daimler was driven past the protesters—including CND, Labour Party and trade union members—and right inside the new factory, where she was greeted by Stag group chairman Mr. Patrick Radford, the son of the company founder.

Mrs Thatcher—wearing a mid-grey suit and matching accessories—congratulated both Stag's management and workforce on their “splendid achievements.”

“I know the last three years have been difficult. They have been difficult in many, many places, but I know that the best companies have come through with flying colours.”

And she added: “It matters to you that the company flourishes and that you can produce good products.

“It matters to me that Britain produces the best so that I can fly the flag—so that everyone knows that Britain stands for good quality, good value and for reliability.”

Mrs Thatcher said she tried to make visits to industrial premises every other Friday. “What I have seen has cheered me up immensely.

“Each factory opening a new extension boasts new investment or new equipment which is the latest of its kind.”

She said she read many fashion, homes and gardening magazines which showed displays of Stag furniture furniture. “They always look lovely. The design is superb and I know the workmanship must be excellent.”

She had items of Meredew furniture—a Letchworth furniture firm taken over by Stag in 1978—in her own home.

And, in a homely mood, she remembered her links with Nottingham. “We are not far from my home town Grantham. I know Nottingham well.

‘Delighted’

“We used to come here to shop.

Unveiling the plaque in the factory, Mrs Thatcher said she didn't exactly know how to open a new factory extension, but she knew how to launch a new ship. “May God bless her and all who work in her,” she said.

But of the General Election there was not a word.

In a tour of the factory, Mr and Mrs Thatcher saw the new 20,000 sq ft wood-drying and cutting plant in full production and met staff at work.

They were officially presented to three members of staff—factory managers Mr. Jim Beardsley, of Sandfield Road, Arnold, who has worked for Stag for 50 years, and Mr. Brian Miller, of Dunvegan Drive, Rise Park, and workers' representative Mr. Mick Blissett, a machinist, of Grindon Crescent, Bulwell Hall Estate.

Before she left, Stag presented Mrs Thatcher with a boxed bridge set.

And two small Nottingham Girls' High School pupils—Kate Freeman, seven, of Mapperley Hall Drive, Mapperley Park and six-year-old Victoria Farrah, of Hartington Road, Sherwood—pushed their way through to give the Prime Minister bunches of flowers.