Food and Drink
From the small artisan producer to the large scale manufacturer, Lanarkshire’s larder
is open for business. The food and drink sector is Scotland’s largest export sector
with exports totalling £5.3bn in 2013. Scotland’s food and drink manufacturing sector
has annual sales of £9.8bn and around 44,000 jobs, and Lanarkshire is now arguably
the country’s food processing capital. The region has one of the most diverse food
landscapes in the country and the sector employs 6,600 people, which is 22% of all
manufacturing posts in Lanarkshire. Lanarkshire has an impressive roll call with
renowned cake maker Lightbody of Hamilton; milk giant Robert Wiseman headquartered
in East Kilbride; Bells Bakers in Shotts; world famous Tunnock’s and fish processor
Dawnfresh both located in Uddingston; Lees of Scotland in Coatbridge; potato specialist
Albert Bartlett in Airdrie; and Border Biscuits in Lanark.
The drinks industry is also well represented with Irn Bru producer AG Barr in
Cumbernauld; William Grant & Son in Strathclyde Business Park; Burn Stewart Distillers
and Coca Cola in East Kilbride; and Inver House Distillers in Airdrie as well as Strathaven
Ales in Strathaven.
Lanarkshire also has a growing reputation for premium produce, ranging from specialist
cheese producers Errington Cheese to ice cream makers, Peter Equi & Sons and luxury
bakers, Lazy Day Foods, who produce free-from treats for people with food intolerances.
North and South Lanarkshire Councils view Food and Drink as a key sector and are keen
to ensure all companies have access to the right type of support at the right time in their
growth cycle. In line with the Scottish Government’s target to grow the food and drink
sector in Scotland to £12.5 billion by 2017, there is a variety of support available to food
and drink producers in Lanarkshire.
If you have a business operating in the food and drink sector in Lanarkshire and would
like more information on the support that is available, contact Chris Wond in the North at
Eliot Jordan in the South a
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