The Provi is still going, none of us really looked at interest rates in those days I wonder what rate the Provi was charging then.
I can remember my Grandmother used to get a Shepard's club out for the Ashington store, as kids we were mesmerised by those compressed air pipes that whizzed the canisters to the cash office, Shepard's also had its own plastic money in the form of coins if you took a club out you got your change in Shepard's money so it had to be spent back in the store.
Some folk had more tick than a clock.