McQueens Dairies is buying the former Müller dairy in East Kilbride in a multi-million-pound expansion plan that will create up to 100 jobs and is aimed at accelerating growth in its doorstep-delivery business.
The family business, which was founded in 1995 by Mick McQueen and wife Meg and employs about 400 staff, aims to open the 6.5-acre site at East Kilbride next spring after a major investment in equipment. It will move production from its current Glasgow dairy to the new site.
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Mr McQueen said: “Our current dairy and distribution centre in the M8 Food Park in the north of Glasgow has reached capacity and doesn’t afford us any more scope to expand so the move to a purpose-built dairy, just 12 miles away, makes perfect sense.”
McQueens, which has100,000 milk-delivery customers across Scotland and in the north of England, has distribution depots in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Kirkcaldy, Galashiels, Mansfield, Huddersfield, Warrington and Preston.
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Mr McQueen said: “We’re an ambitious business that delivers milk direct to customers’ doors and want to build on the success we’ve achieved so far. In the last year we grew turnover by 30 per cent and we expect that increase to be repeated this year so the new dairy in East Kilbride, which is larger than our current dairy, gives us a real platform to maintain that momentum. We’re also very excited about creating many new jobs as a result.”
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He added: “We know that many people purchase milk from supermarkets but our business is about delivering milk direct to the consumer, be that doorsteps or businesses. There is a real growth in the demand for doorstep delivery.”
McQueens said its expansion would raise its requirement for raw liquid milk supply from farmers.
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