Are Amazon taking the biscuit with Jacobs social club?
By Laura Lyne
THE future of the famed Jacob's Biscuits Social Club is in doubt after access to services on the well-known clubhouse building was cut off following the sale of the former Jacob's factory site on the Belgard Road to online shopping giant Amazon.
The water and electricity supply to the building, which is located on the factory grounds, was cut off just days after it was reported in The Echo that Amazon had acquired the site.
Up to 50 old age pensioners used the site on a weekly basis and took part in art classes every Thursday, played pool on Sunday and met up for social nights every second Tuesday and Thursday.
The social club currently includes up to 230 lifetime members who would have bought membership when the club first opened in 1980 – there are also 100 members who pay a membership fee each year to continue the upkeep of the club.
Derek Toomey, chairperson of the Jacob’s social club told The Echo: “The Monday following the story in The Echo about Amazon taking over, I went to the club and found that the electricity and water was cut off.
“We can’t get a hold of anyone in Amazon. There have been people in surveying the site but we have been unable to speak to any of them, and the security guards have no information – they’re just working for a company and doing their job.
“Jacob’s used to pay the electricity and gas on the building, which is owned by the lifetime members.
“The land it is on is owned by whoever owns the factory, and there have been three or four companies that have owned it since Jacob’s left and we’ve negotiated with them in the past to sort out electricity and water.
“The club is just getting left behind and bullied out of the building. We have not been able to contact anyone from Amazon and we just want to speak to someone to find out what’s going on.”
Speculation surrounding the future of the social club has been growing since Amazon took over the former Jacob’s site, with many people who visited the club over the years getting in touch with the social club committee which includes chairperson Derek Toomey, secretary Maria Breen and treasurer Julie Keogh.
Maria Breen, secretary of the social club, told The Echo: “We had relations and friends of friends of people who worked in the factory who were involved in the social club.
“When the club first opened, the pensioners who use it now first bought into it with a lifetime membership and they use it every week and for their Christmas events.
“It has two pool tables, tea and coffee facilities and it’s their building. The money isn’t there to go elsewhere.
“We’ve been forced to close the gates because markings have been made by surveyors on the car park of the club.
“Nobody informed us of the sale, we learned about it in The Echo and we’ve had no contact from anyone – we just want to talk to someone in Amazon to discuss this.”
The Jacob’s biscuit factory was closed in 2008 after more than 30 years with the loss of 200 jobs.
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