The £2million (US$3.2 million) new factory at Bridge of Weir will start supplying leather to automotive brands all over the world, including Aston Martin, Ford, Fisker, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mercedes AMG, Volvo and others. Other Scottish Leather Group customers, including Morgan, British Airways, Emirates and Singapore Airlines’ interior leather will also be manufactured at the new facility.
Up to 70 staff will move into the new facilities immediately, with room for another 80 as output fully ramps up over the coming months. Capacity at the new facility is currently 6,000 hides per week, with space to further expand and accommodate more than 10,000 per week as the business continues to grow.
The new factory will accommodate design, laser etching, embossing, lamination, perforation, cutting, sales, staff training, product presentations and showrooms, packaging, warehousing and international dispatch facilities.
“Bridge of Weir’s success story is a remarkable one. In the last three years, and at the height of a global recession, Bridge of Weir’s sales have grown 150%, with 90% of these sales made overseas. It is clear that from this company’s 107 years of producing leather, it knows exactly what it is doing and where it is going”, says Bridge of Weir Managing Director Karen Marshall.
After the plaque unveiling by Bridge of Weir Chairman, Jonathan Muirhead, he said, “Bridge of Weir Leather Company been a part of my family, and here in Renfrewshire, for over 100 years, and we are all, as a family and a community, extremely proud of this business’s achievements. It is down to the hard work of the whole team here.”
