The secrets of a Scottish logistics giant's ongoing success in the sector will take centre stage at the next prestigious Herald Scottish Family Business Breakfast on August 30.
Last year W H Malcolm, the huge logistics group that is based in Linwood in Renfrewshire, marked its centenary.
Over 100 years the company has grown from very humble beginnings to become one of the biggest and most respected road and rail transport companies in Britain.
The company’s roots lie in the horse-and-cart coal round established by Walter Donald and after a remarkable journey of growth and expansion the W H Malcolm Group remains a family concern.
Today, Andrew Malcolm MBE is CEO and at The Herald Family Business Breakfast, which will take place on Wednesday, 30 August, he will be sharing his experiences of succession when he gives the event’s keynote speech.
Andrew took over from his father, Donald Malcolm, and now amongst the current 2000-strong workforce are fourth-generation members of the Malcolm family.
Like Andrew, and his father before him, those family members began on the bottom rung and have learnt the business from the ground up, something Andrew believes is essential if the knowledge and values of the organisation are to be successfully passed on.
“I joined the business when I was 15 and became a driver as soon as I was old enough. My dad had been working alongside his mother from the age of 13 after Walter died while he was still very young.”
W H Malcolm is a family business in the widest sense of the word says Andrew and more important than experience and qualifications he says, is finding new recruits who can fit into the company’s culture.
“Some of our employees are the third generation in their family to work for us and one of the main reasons why I brought the company back into private ownership in 2002 was that I believed that my principle duty was to ensure the financial stability of the company for our workforce and not for shareholders.”
In 1960 the company had been taken over by Grampian Holdings PLC and looking back now Andrew says that the sale had been a shrewd move by his father as it gave Andrew himself the time to grow into the role that he would eventually occupy.
“It can be quite lonely at the top trying to balance what is best for the company and also best for the family and it is something that we are looking at closely within W H Malcolm at the moment,” he says.
Even today, Andrew describes his father, who died in 2003, as his ‘mentor’ although he admits that there were times when the two disagreed over how to move the company forward.
“The next generation brings new ideas, which are essential for any company, and the skill lies in knowing when to move out of the way and let them get on with it.”
It will be these insights that Andrew will be sharing when he speaks at what is predicted to be an interesting and lively discussion at The Herald Scottish Family Business Breakfast in association with Business Gateway and supported by Virgin Money.
The host on the day will be former BBC Scotland political editor, Brian Taylor and amongst those taking part will be James Taylor, Managing Director of Taylors Snacks, and Julie Dunn, Director of Operations at Dunns Food & Drinks. David Henderson, Head of Strategic Finance - West of Scotland of sponsors Virgin Money said, “One of the big positives of working in a family business is the continuity which can be derived from passing knowledge, experience and relationships from one generation to the next. The opportunity then is how the next generation harness that benefit and drive their business forward through investment and innovation. I look forward to hearing from the speakers at this years event on how they have done that within their business.”
The event begins at 9:30am and will include a panel discussion with a Q&A and opportunities to network with other delegates. More information and tickets can be found online: https://newsquestscotlandevents.com/events/fambizbreakfast/
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