Ayrshire mill's 35 years of producing paper for the world

The UPM Caledonian paper mill in Irvine opened in April, 1989 after two years of construction and now employs 290 staff members from across the county.

And, amazingly, many of the team have worked there all their adult lives.

MD Bryan McMurdo, left, gives reporter Neil Smith a tour of the plant (Image: Charlie Gilmour)

Managing director Bryan McMurdo said: "We've recently been through a big demographic changes - because so many workers who started all those years ago are now retiring.

"We now have maybe 50 trainees at the mill who are replacing people who had 35 years of service."

Families of many of the workers got a guided tour of the huge mill last Saturday at the open day. And it proved a real adventure for some of the youngsters who got to see the place where their mums or dads are employed.

Given the amount of heavy industry - and the noise of the machines - they all donned protective glasses and ear protectors for the visit.

The mill, part of the Scandinavian UPM empire, is the main producer of the glossy paper used by most of the UK's magazines - ranging from Woman's Own to Classic Cars Weekly and even Private Eye.

The plant, a subsidiary of Finnish-based company Kymmene Corporation, began test runs of paper production on April 1, 1989, and within weeks the site was in full swing, bang on schedule. 

The mill, which cost £215million to build, was regarded at the time as the single largest inward investment in Scotland.

Until Caledonian Paper arrived in Scotland, all lightweight coated paper used for glossy advertising, magazines, colour supplements and catalogues, had to be imported.

MD Bryan said: "We produce 300,000 tonnes of pulp a day. with much of the wood locally sourced from the Galloway Forest or Bute, for example.

"The work is very energy intensive but we're taking steps to increase our energy efficiency."

Recently, the addition of a combined heat and power plant (CHP), using biomass as a renewable fuel source, is a natural progression for the site which is now able to produce all of its heat requirements and just over half of its electricity needs.

The mill can produce paper stocks of all shapes and sizes. And much of their product heads to markets overseas.

In Japan, publishers prefer a slightly blue tinged glossy paper for their product. For the Korean market, an ivory silk tone of paper is sent over for school books to be produced.

Bryan said: "Paper means so much to people, whether it be a newspaper, a book or a magazine. There's just no comparison to the digital alternative."

Here's to 35 more years of employment at one of Ayrshire's biggest and most successful companies.