McCoo artist goes to war with Solihull Greggs after Scottish banknote refused - The Solihull Observer

McCoo artist goes to war with Solihull Greggs after Scottish banknote refused

Solihull Editorial 5th Jul, 2017 Updated: 5th Jul, 2017   0

IT WAS sausage rolls at dawn this week as a Scottish artist went to war with Greggs after they took away his lunch while he was eating it in a row over his Scottish banknote.

Steven Brown – famed for his colourful McCoo artwork – was at the High Street store on Saturday where he paid for his meal with a Scottish £20 note and he went to sit outside with his colleague.

Although staff appeared happy to accept the Scottish note at first the artist was then approached at his table outside while he and his friend were eating.

Steven, whose colourful paintings of cows have made him a social media sensation, claims staff took away some of the food and drink he had bought, saying they could no longer accept his money.




In a series of Facebook videos Steven explained how he felt discriminated against and even made a sign saying ‘Greggs Solihull Sorry we only accept English money not Scottish’ as a form of protest, standing outside the store with it.

Steven, who is seen tucking into a sausage roll in one of the videos, said: “We are supposed to be one country. We have just been discriminated at Greggs Solihull.


“We tried to pay by a Scottish note and got told you can’t pay by that and our food got taken away from us from the table outside.

“We are a United Kingdom and regardless of whether you are from England, Scotland or Northern Ireland, your British currency should be accepted freely, no matter which region it originates from.

“Having been a manager within the food service industry in my formative years, I was truly shocked by the way in which we were treated and felt compelled to raise this with Greggs.

“This is a common issue throughout the UK, and I do hope that by highlighting this unfortunate incident, it will encourage all retailers to ensure that their staff are adequately trained to understand what constitutes British currency.”

Greggs have been in touch with the Ayrshire artist and apologised for their mistake, offering to make a donation of £20 to a charity of his choice.

He added: “I am happy to accept their apology and I am confident that they will be reinforcing the acceptance of all British currency to their staff in all regions of the UK.

“Regardless of this particular incident, I remain a huge fan of Greggs food and will undoubtedly be visiting one of their stores in the near future for my beloved cheese and onion pasty.”

A Greggs spokesperson said: “This incident should never have happened and we are really sorry that we let our customer down. All of our shops should accept Scottish notes and we have contacted them all today to remind them to ensure this does not happen again.”

Announcements

Weddings, Birthdays, Bereavements, Thank you notices, Marriages and more.

Recruitment

Find a career you'll love with our free career finder website.

Reader Travel

Check out all of the latest reader travel offers to get your hands on some free gifts.

Buy Photos

Buy photos online from the Solihull Observer newspaper.