Byline: John Gibson
APAN drop pandemic enveloped the sweet-toothed population of central Scotland last spring when Millar, the Broxburn-based confectioner, went into receivership.
The firm had been producing, among other treats, pan drops, known down the years as "kirk sweeties". Women of a certain age en-route to church would pop a few into their handbags to suck on discreetly, easing the pain of the drone from the pulpit.
In fact, last year was something of a cataclysmic time for the confectionery trade in Scotland. Only two weeks before Millar went under, Stenhousemuir-based McCowan, famed for its Highland Toffee, had gone bust.
But that was a perfect opportunity for two entrepreneurial chartered accountants who met while working for accountancy giant Andersen's.
Graham Wallace, a Dundonian who graduated at Edinburgh University, and Glaswegian Andy Allan got together to act as consultants to struggling firms.
They established Fairways Corporate Finance, a business specialising in buying and rebuilding companies.
Mr Wallace had been group financial director and a founder of Edinburgh-based tech pioneer Spider Systems, which was eventually sold for GBP 100 million.
Mr Allan, meanwhile, had been a corporate finance partner with Ernst & Young.
Replica Monogram Multicolore HandbagsBut snapping up the two beleaguered companies, now under the Millar McCowan banner, is seen as a platform for success and preserving confectionery tradition.
Mr Wallace says: "For Andy and I confectionery is a new ball park, and it was timing, more than anything, that took us into it.
"Two long-established companies, each with products that are widely recognised as part of the Scottish culture, going to the wall within weeks of each other, seemed to us to be heaven-sent," he explains. "Each company could boast an excellent brand name with quality products."
Millar's roots go back to 1884 when Thomas Millar started a bakery in Leith. Soon, though, he converted into sweetie production and the firm stayed in the port until 1989, when it relocated to West Lothian.
"When we took over there were 80 employees at Broxburn," says Mr Wallace. "We've retained most of them and we've revived some of the Millar products that a lot of people had virtually forgotten about. Pan drops, of course, and, for example, chocolate eclairs."
Dedication has cost Mr Wallace four fillings, though he accepts that goes with the trade.
McCowan's had been operating since 1922, the creation of Crieff-born Andrew McCowan. At receivership, the Stenhousemuir factory had a staff of 90.
"Again we've retained as many as possible and we're determined to keep both sites, with Broxburn our HQ," says Mr Wallace.
"Production is as before, there and in Stenhousemuir. Five days, 6am to 10pm. We've not been caught up in the supermarkets, we're more into cash-and-carry and convenience stores."
New management is in place and last month the duo captured the services of Chris Jenkins from Cadbury as marketing director.
"Chris instantly saw plenty mileage in our Wham bars, an original creation in the 80s that's chewy with fizzy sugar crystals. Wham's initial appeal was to kids," notes Mr Wallace.
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