SUPERMARKET DELIVERIES

Scotland at New Year was great. Turn off at Blair Atholl and drive for 45 minutes along a track up though the Tilt valley until you get to Forest Lodge. Nothing else for miles around except deer, birds and the occasional arctic hare.

We were self-catering, which was fine. But it's difficult to take enough milk for a week when there are 23 of you. And not easy to go and get it when you run out, particularly when it's the holiday season. Fortunately, Asda came to the rescue. All supermarkets in the U.K. have for some time operated a system, whereby you can order groceries online, and they deliver. What is surprising is how cheap it is, just £5 per order. That wouldn't cover the operating cost of 90 minutes up and down the track, let alone the driving to and from the nearest town, either Pitlochry or (more probably) Perth.

Uneconomic, perhaps. But as a customer marketing ploy, fantastic. I don't often shop for groceries in the U.K. But if I did, I know which supermarket chain I would opt for.

Walter Blotscher