By Ian McConnell

FAMILY-owned Fife company Smith Anderson, which produces paper bags, is creating 22 jobs through a £3 million investment supported by a £450,000 Regional Selective Assistance grant from taxpayer-backed Scottish Enterprise.

Smith Anderson, which can trace its roots back more than 160 years, has invested in machinery to increase capacity and cost-efficiency at its Kirkcaldy site.

Scottish Enterprise noted this would support the firm’s aim of remaining a “market-leading paper-bag manufacturer in both Scotland and wider Europe”.

It added the investment would allow Smith Anderson, which was founded in 1859 with the purchase of the Fettykil Paper Mill in Leslie and now employs 243 people, to target new customers.