TALK of the Towns has over the years featured many stories going back to when this area was much different to the Inverclyde of today.

This article in my current series which has been examining what was making news 30 years ago is a case in point.

In June 1994, it was reported Inverclyde’s eight major electronics firms including National Semiconductor, pictured, appeared to be pulling the district out of the doldrums, with dole queues slowly diminishing.

Greenock JobCentre’s manager said: “The electronics sector in this area is really booming just now. All the major companies appear to be doing really well.

“A lot of jobs being created are temporary but that is the nature of the industry.

“There is evidence of longer term contracts and the average is now about three months.”

The district’s jobless figures had dropped 116 in the past month to 4,720.

Provost Allan Robertson did not share the JobCentre manager’s optimism and expressed concern for young people trying to find jobs.

While accepting short-term and contract work was better than nothing, the Provost said the district needed to attract more long-term employment.

Earlier in June, 1994, the National Semiconductor factory in Larkfield industrial estate experienced a mid-morning blaze.

An indicator of how many local jobs the electronics industry once supported is the Nat-Semi fire prompted the evacuation of nearly 1,000 employees. There were no injuries.