Brownings of Kilmarnock has sealed a deal with Marks & Spencer to supply 59 of its stores across Scotland with potato scones.
The family-run business, which is famous for the Kilmarnock Pie, said the contract will help bakery secure jobs during a period of uncertainty caused by coronavirus.
Brownings, which celebrates its 75 birthday this year, is a third-generation Scottish family business established in 1945 by managing director John Gall’s grandparents. It employs 190 people across its bakery, office, transport and stores.
In 2014, Brownings invested £1.5 million to more than double the size of the bakery, which sources many of its ingredients from Scottish farms and suppliers.
Gall said: “M&S’s commitment to Scottish suppliers is more relevant than ever and we’re proud to announce our partnership with the retailer.
"During the current climate all businesses have needed to adapt to ensure we can continue to supply the nation and we’ve been working extremely closely with M&S to make sure customers will be able to enjoy our traditional tattie scones throughout Scottish stores.”
David Bates, M&S head of region for the West of Scotland, added: “We are proud that we have established a strong network of over 40 food suppliers based in Scotland, who work with more than 4,000 farms to provide fantastic products across the whole of the country.
"Brownings is a fantastic example of a family-run Scottish business that is committed to supplying the very best local products to our stores and we’re thrilled to develop a partnership with the bakery. We know that our customers want traditional tattie scones that taste homemade, and we’re confident they’ll love the ready-made potato scones from Brownings.”
Marks & Spencer today confirmed it will make the first deliveries through its £1.5 billion joint venture with Ocado on Tuesday, September 1.
The firm raised £600,000 from investors to back the plan in May 2019. Online grocery shopping has doubled its share of the UK market to 14% since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
M&S chairman Archie Norman said: "When we did the Ocado acquisition and we had to have a rights issue to finance it, I think it's fair to say that shareholders were pretty divided. We're not hearing any scepticism now."
