Scottish retailer Tiso has bought one of Keswick’s best known outdoor stores.

The George Fisher shop was snapped up by the Leith-based company founded by mountaineer Graham Tiso in 1962. Fisher’s was itself started by its eponymous founder, who was the leader of Keswick Mountain Rescue Team.

A statement from Tiso HQ said: “Tiso Group, parent company of one of the UK’s most successful independent outdoor retailers, Graham Tiso Ltd, recognised that George Fisher had a natural synergy with its own business model and operating philosophy, which is driven by customer service and product integrity.”

grough had the statement translated by top business analysts who told us they meant: “We thought we’d buy it because it sells outdoor gear and we think we can make money by taking it over.”

Former owners of George Fisher, Michael and Anita Standring, are retiring. Tiso is said to have paid £3.2m for the Fisher company, which divested itself of its Skipton shop in 2003, selling it to Ultimate Outdoors, much to the relief of British Mountaineering Council (BMC) members who could at last claim their meagre discount.

The 9,000 sq ft store in Borrowdale Road has a staff of 46 and an annual turnover of £3m. BMC members may now like to chance their luck and flash their membership cards at the till, since Tiso does offer a 10 per cent discount on production of the requisite evidence.