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1931 - How it all began
During the difficult days of depression in the early 1930's the
future did not look good for baker Donald Bell and the likelihood
was that he would find himself out of work as he completed his
apprenticeship with a local bakery. Donald lived with his family of
four brothers and two sisters and their parents, David and Margaret
Bell in the mining town of Shotts, Lanarkshire.
Father David Bell, who had worked locally in the pits as a
winding engineman since the early 1900's, was keen for his family
to prosper and suggested converting the family "wash-house" into a
small bakery. Donald enthusiastically took up the idea and with a
hot plate began baking scones and pancakes in the early hours of
the morning which he then took out and sold door to door
locally.
The products proved popular enough for a small two deck oven to
be installed and brother Henry took over selling which allowed
Master Baker Donald to become full time in producing other high
quality bakery products such as cakes and rolls. The business grew
and with the encouragement of father David the other family members
became involved and the company "David Bell & Sons (Bakers)
Limited" was born.
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1939 – Business Expands. War Is Declared.
By the end of the decade the business had expanded
considerably. As well as the shop in Shotts outside
catering had begun and retail vans were operating locally, some of
which were horse-drawn. In 1938 another bakery business was
acquired in Wishaw, Lanarkshire.
Brothers Donald, Henry and John worked full time in the
bakeries whilst other brothers David and Andrew, previously
employed elsewhere in haulage became full time in sales. Older
sister Nellie, who had been manageress in the local co-op, now
looked after administration whilst sister Cissie was wholly
involved in successfully managing outside catering. With everyone
working eighteen hours a day, seven days a week the company
prospered and all profits earned were ploughed back into extending
buildings and improving machinery.
The Second World War presented serious staffing issues for
the company as three brothers, Andrew, Henry and John were called
up for National Service. This left two brothers, David and Donald
and two sisters Nellie and Cissie, along with a limited workforce
of excellent staff, to carry on through the war years. Thankfully
all three brothers returned safely when war ended and business
continued as formerly.
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1947 - Post War Challenges
Post-war food shortages presented new challenges for the
business. In order to extend the flour quota permitted during
rationing a further bakery business was acquired in Biggar, South
Lanarkshire and shops in Carluke and Lanark were opened.
Outside catering continued to grow and a Tea Room in Wishaw was
opened.
Although rationing was lifted in the early fifties it was
a very difficult time for retail bakers and many throughout the
country went out of business. The company was forced to rationalise
activities and the Carluke and Lanark shops were closed as the
remainder of the business struggled to stay afloat.
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1955 - Bells "Special" Puff Pastry
Whilst on a family trip to England with his wife, Donald hit
upon an idea which would eventually see the business transformed
from retail bakers to a successful wholesale food company. Upon
seeing a pack of puff pastry being sold in a local grocer's store
on holiday Donald was convinced this was a good idea and knew he
could do much better with his own special recipe produced in the
traditional Scotch method.
Puff pastry in packet form had never been sold in Scotland and
on his return Donald went about developing a retail pack of his own
Special Puff Pastry. At first only moderate sales were achieved
through grocery outlets and the company's retail vans, however when
brother David introduced the pastry to local butchers the product
was a resounding success as it complemented so well the butcher's
stewing steak and allowed housewives to bake their own steak pies
without the difficulty of making their own puff
pastry.
The huge success and demand for Bell's Special Puff
Pastryallowed the company to develop further its wholesale business
throughout Scotland with the introduction of other high quality
bakery products such as Bell's Scotch Pies,Bridies, Sausage rolls
and Bell's Famous Steak Pies, all produced from Bell's own recipes
developed in the 1930's.
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1965 – Bells Established Throughout Scotland but Suffer Bitter Blow
The business by this time had reached a peak with a successful
van sales operation established operating fifteen vehicles all over
Scotland, from the Borders and Dumfries, to Aberdeen and the North
East going coast to coast, delivering to butcher shops, caterers
and retail outlets the company brand had become synonymous with
good quality, fresh pastry and pies.
The business portfolio had also been successfully extended with
the addition in the late 1950's of Toftcombs Hotel in Biggar and
the Belmont Restaurant in Wishaw, both of which had become thriving
local businesses. Company direction was now firmly focused on
manufacturing and the wholesale van operation whilst the retail
shops and vans were gradually run down over the period from the
late 1950's to the end of the 1960's.
Unfortunately the family and business was to suffer a bitter
blow during this year when oldest member of the family Nellie took
seriously ill at the relatively young age of 59 and passed away.
Nellie had been very much matriarch of the family and business
since the death of father David Bell during the war years and was
sadly missed by all family and employees.
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1970 – A New Generation
Sadly Donald passed away in 1970 after a long illness and the
time had come to look to the future. Nearly forty years had gone by
since the company was started and the remaining family, brothers
David, Andrew and John along with sister Cissie decided that it was
time to hand over to the next
generation.
By this time Donald's son David T Bell, David's son Dr David
Bell and John's son John (junior) had already firmly established
themselves in the management of the business.
Fortunately all three were well qualified and had previously gained
experience in the three main functions of the business namely
production, sales and finance. With the guiding hands of David
Senior and John Senior the three new partners were to successfully
take the business to its next stage.
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1975 – Diversification and Expansion
Although the company continued to do well within the independent
food sector the new generation could foresee major changes
happening within the retail food trade. The acquisition of
The Kirriemuir Gingerbread Company 1975 not only brought even
greater expansion to the Bell's already impressive estate and
diversification into cake manufacturing, it provided them with a
valuable listing and contact within the major multiple
retailers.
The rise of the large supermarket chains at this time brought
about a key turning point in the food industry and the company's
history. With the acquisition of Kirriemuir Gingerbread Ltd the
company used this opportunity to develop the Bells products within
the multiple retailers and worked extremely hard at expanding sales
in this area of the market.
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1985 – A Period of Change As the Bells Brand Strengthens
By 1985 listings had been secured with a broad portfolio of
Bell's successful products amongst all the major retailers
establishing the company as a major Scottish food manufacturer and
supplier to the major multiple retailers and independent traders
alike. For many years the company had been supplying butchers with
shapes, rolls and blocks of Bell's Special Puff Pastry, which they
used to make their own pastry goods. This operation was
identified as an opportunity to expand further pastry production by
supplying to distributors in England and other industrial sized
manufacturers of pastry products. Bell's "Fill N Bake"
range of pastry products was introduced.
As trade with the multiples grew the mode of distribution to the
market changed from van sales to central distribution. This period
saw the introduction of the large heavy goods trunkers to the
Bell's fleet and a reduction in van sales operations. It was also
during this year that the last non-core activity of the business,
Toftcombs Hotel, was sold.
The years had now begun to take their toll on the family and in
1981 Cissie, the younger sister, passed away. Oldest brother
David, " Davie" who had led the way in opening up the van sales
runs on the strength of the success of the puff pastry in the
fifties and sixties, died at the age 77 in 1985. The growth of the
supermarket chains brought about the demise of many independent
grocers and butchers and regrettably many loyal Bell's customers,
that Davie would have opened up during the those early years of van
sales, had now ceased to trade.
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1993 – Bursting at the Seams
By the early 1990's the company had run out of space. The
original bakery at Dykehead had undergone major extensions in the
1950's and again in 1971 and although another factory in
Rutherglen, Glasgow had been acquired to manufacture Kirriemuir
Gingerbread, facilities were bursting at the seams and the sites
were land-locked.
Plans were drawn up and the largest capital investment project
the company had ever undertaken was underway. A vacant factory and
substantial site in the Torbothie area of Shotts was acquired and
developed to become the 44,000 sq ft Hawthorn
Bakery. The factory was purpose built for the production
of pies and savoury products and became the new company
headquarters. Pastry and cake production was consolidated into the
refurbished Dykehead bakery and the factory at Rutherglen was
sold.
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2000 – New Millennium New Era
With the arrival of the new millennium the company had once more
adapted to changes both within the company itself and in the
outside business environment. The last of the
original family had now passed on. John, the youngest of the
brothers and regarded as the senior figure in the business for many
years died in 1996 and Andrew, who lived longest amongst the
original family, died at the age of 87 in 2000. Also by
now the two eldest of the second generation, David T Bell and Dr
David Bell, "The Two Davids", had stepped down from their executive
posts after many years of dedicated service and took up advisory
positions on the board leaving John "junior", John's son, to carry
on the good work with a new team in place.
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2012 – Brand Leaders, BRC Global Standards Accreditation
In the past ten years the company has progressed to secure the position of brand leaders with over 60% of branded fresh meat pie sales in Scotland and in 2011 was ranked at number 12 in the Scottish Grocer best known brands chart. No mean achievement as Bells ranked ahead of such famous Scottish brand names as Grant's Whisky, Tunnock's, Mackie's Ice Cream and Mothers Pride.
The past decade has seen major investment in machinery and systems throughout the company as the management has driven through its programme of continuous improvement and strong financial control. Despite the difficult trading conditions experienced during that time, Bells never lost sight of its key targets in achieving BRC Global Standards Accreditation, over 99% service levels to customers, productivity improvements, waste reduction and both sales and profit growth.