Thriving family business lured back to Kilmarnock for expansion

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A group from East Ayrshire Council's Economic Growth team recently paid a visit to welcome an Ayrshire company back to its roots.

In a positive step for the local economy, Bridge Johnson, a thriving family business with its roots in the area, has chosen to return to the area after many years in three premises in Glasgow thanks to the offer of the perfect property and keen support to continue their expansion under one expansive and well-connected roof.

Founded in 2006 by Kilmarnock businessman Jon McKechnie, Bridge Johnson began as a regional packaging distributor based in Symington, Ayrshire.

As the business grew, large distributors, manufacturers and producers turned to Bridge Johnson as their preferred supplier for next-level support when making improvements to their packaging.

Within a few years, Bridge Johnson had outgrown their premises and, unable to find anything suitable in Ayrshire at the time, moved to Glasgow - where they operated firstly out of one location in the West of the city, quickly progressing to opening a second warehouse in the east side.

By the end of the 2020s, Jon’s sons had joined the company, and the business had grown significantly.

By this time the emphasis was on assisting companies with their sustainability and helping them reduce their carbon usage with a range of highly innovative products, such as SURGE stretch-film. In most cases, this helped their clients see a reduction of over 50 per cent in their single-use plastic packaging.

Their strategy was now all about selling their clients less packaging, which may seem contradictory to growth, but it has proved highly successful as their customer base expanded rapidly throughout the UK and into Eire and the European continent.

With their Glasgow warehouses full and a significant amount of third party storage in use, the need to move became a priority.

East Ayrshire Council’s Business Support and Property teams became aware of Bridge Johnson’s need for much larger premises, and proactively worked with the company to help them secure a sizeable warehouse and office unit in Moorfield Park, Kilmarnock, bringing the family business back home to its original roots.

The move was completed in June this year after new offices were built within the building and fitted out by Ayrshire companies LC Shopfitters and Rakkaus Furniture.

Jon says their move back to the family’s hometown has been an exciting journey with East Ayrshire Council being incredibly supportive all along the way.

Jon said: "This has been an excellent move for us, with our team delighted with the much-improved facilities and all the efficiencies and culture boost this has brought about.

"I’d like to particularly give mention to East Ayrshire Council who could not have been more supportive. They seem incredibly proactive and offer many business-friendly initiatives that support sound commercial growth. Their Business Support Team is hands-on and switched-on and definitely worth a call if you’re looking to expand in the West of Scotland.

"We look forward to supporting our clients from our new distribution centre and thank our fantastic team for all their effort in making this such a success."

David McDowall, Head of Economic Growth, East Ayrshire Council, welcomed the company back to the area .

David said: "As a council, we always pride ourselves in partnership working, and the confidence Jon and his family have shown in bringing their business back to the area is testament to the way in which our teams work to provide tailored support to businesses - whether that’s with locating and providing properties, recruitment, training and employability support - or helping with grant funding, planning advice or access to business support on all levels.

“Our ambitions for Community Wealth Building are greatly boosted by companies like Bridge Johnson who recognise the advantages of relocating to East Ayrshire.

"With flexible, purpose-built buildings, good transport links and ongoing support from our teams and partner organisations, we look forward to seeing the company go from strength to strength, supplying other businesses with what they need in the drive towards net zero ambitions while providing new jobs and opportunities."

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