Rowan Glen: Yoghurt factory revival hits 20 million pots a year

A little over a year ago it looked like the Rowan Glen yoghurt factory near Palnure had closed for good.

Owners Dale Farm decided the Dumfries and Galloway site was surplus to requirements and it subsequently shut with the loss of 55 jobs.

A management buyout - backed by South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) - has been able to turn that story around.

Staff numbers are building back up and about 20 million pots of yoghurt a year are coming off the production line.

Sam Hughes, from nearby Minnigaff, started working at the plant as a teenager and has been there for 10 years.

He said it was a blow when the closure was announced.

"I was disappointed because we knew that it had the potential to work because it has done for years," he said.

However, since the management takeover, he hopes that things are on the up.

"It's been hard work, but it's been worth it. It's paying off, definitely, so it's grand."

Colleague John Hannay - also from Minnigaff - has worked with Rowan Glen for two decades.

He said there was a a feeling of "devastation" when the plant closed and delight when it reopened.

"It was such a good factory in a local area where we need employment," he said.

"Once we found out we were being kept on, it was brilliant.

"It is just good to know that we've got jobs and things are looking up."

At present there are 18 staff but it is hoped that can recover much closer to the numbers employed prior to the buyout.

A fresh investment from SOSE - to help reduce their carbon footprint - will help towards that.

Managing director Alan Baxter said it had been a hectic 12 months or so.

"The decision was made to to close the site here in November last year, everybody was made redundant - the factory closed and the business stopped," he said.

"Then, with support from SOSE, we managed to start again and we're starting to build the business back up.

"We're employing 18 people now from a standing start, so that's been really good. It's just been a lot of hard work, a lot of effort, but good fun."

He said they had seen potential in the business that might have been "kind of lost" as part of a larger group.

"We've had a good first year - we've hit our first year targets - we're in a number of supermarkets," he said.

"We've got a decent volume going through the site and I suppose now it's just to build on that."

That means getting into more retailers and bringing in new products.

"We keep building up and we'll see where we are in another 12 months," he added.

He said that should mean more jobs in the plant - but also for local firms connected to the factory.

Certainly, in terms of food miles, they could hardly be doing better - they get the milk for their products from a farm which is right next door.

They are still a small player in an overall UK market worth hundreds of millions of pounds, but he is happy with output.

"I think we're sitting at about 18 to 20 million pots or bottles of yoghurt a year at the minute - so that's about 400,000 or 500,000 a week," said Mr Baxter.

"It's a decent number and there's a lot of work goes into making that happen."

One element, of course, is investment and that is where SOSE has been happy to help.

Chief executive Jane Morrison-Ross said the turnaround at Rowan Glen had been impressive.

"A year ago it did look very bleak for Rowan Glen but what's happened in the last year has been absolutely phenomenal," she said.

"The work that's been put in by Alan Baxter and the whole team here is unprecedented, really, but the passion and the commitment and the belief in the quality of the product, I think, is the thing that shines through.

"Now they're in major supermarkets again, with more to come.

"They've got 18 staff and they're working to have 45 and they're growing at a rapid pace, but a good pace and a manageable one."

She said it was exactly the sort of operation SOSE had been set up to support.

"This is the kind of thing that makes our jobs worthwhile, it really is," she said.

"I think the entire team at SOSE is just so pleased to see where Rowan Glen are going.

"It's a great example of a family-owned local business with generations of people that have worked here."

As operations grow, they hope you will see more Rowan Glen products putting this corner of Galloway on the map in the years to come.