DOORSTEP milk deliveries continue to boom under the restrictions of Covid-19, as more and more consumers rediscover the original 'safe and reliable' fresh food supply service.

Leading these moves in Scotland – and the north of England – are McQueens Dairies, which has just completed expansion work doubling its capacity to package and distribute fresh milk supplied by farmer-owned co-operative First Milk.

McQueens, founded in 1995 by company chairman Mick McQueen and his wife Meg, specialises in doorstep milk deliveries out of distribution depots in Scotland and north of England, employing hundreds of staff, including the couple’s five children. Since the first lockdown in March, the business has seen a 30% rise in doorstep customers.

It has now opened a new 6.5 acre dairy facility in East Kilbride as part of a multi-million pound expansion plan that has seen the creation of over 100 new jobs across the business in the last twelve months. The new dairy will see milk production capacity more than double, accommodating that increased customer demand with new refrigeration plant and pasteurising equipment, new filler lines and a significantly enhanced glass bottling line.

Mr McQueen said: “Investing in a new, large dairy is at the heart of the business’s growth plans. Our production capacity has now more than doubled which allows us to confidently meet increasing customer demand and to continue to invest in other parts of the business like our distribution depot network, our fleet, and of course in our staff.

“Our doorstep milk delivery business was growing significantly before the coronavirus pandemic hit the country but we have witnessed significantly faster growth as people demanded safer and reliable food delivery services. Doorstep deliveries were already our core service so we were perfectly placed to respond quickly, efficiently and safely."

In addition to milk products, the company also delivers orange juice, apple juice and free-range eggs to the doorstep.

“We have seen a clear change in consumer buying habits in recent months and we are confident that demand for safe and reliable doorstep deliveries will continue." he said. "We have recently opened a new depot in Stockton on Tees which is already employing 25 staff delivering to doorsteps in County Durham and we’re looking at other new locations for additional distribution depots across Scotland and the north of England to meet demand, and to recruit more milkmen and milkwomen to work across the whole of our distribution network.

“It is also very pleasing to be able to buy more raw milk from First Milk, a dairy farmer owned co-operative that has been supplying us for many years, and if the business maintains its growth levels, as we expect it to, we will be buying even more – helping support family farming businesses.”

Commercial director of First Milk, Fraser Brown, added: “It is great to see McQueens Dairies opening its new production facility in East Kilbride and continuing its ambitious expansion. We have been supplying McQueens with fresh raw milk direct from our dairy farmer members for many years. Our farmers are committed to sustainable dairy production and we look forward to continuing to work with McQueens in the future to help them bring great tasting dairy to their customers across Scotland and the North of England.”

McQueens now has distribution depots in Glasgow, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Kirkcaldy, Galashiels, Mansfield, Huddersfield, Warrington, Preston, Stockton on Tees and Carlisle.