With the quickening pace of modern business, companies that have been around for the last 12 months can seem like old-hands. L S Smellie and Sons, however, is the genuine article - a bona fide elder statesman with a history dating back to 1874.

Not once in its 127-year life span has it been bought over, broken up or renamed. Instead, this family concern has simply endured and expanded since Lawson Stewart Smellie founded the firm as a livestock auctioneering business in Blantyre. His great grandson Robert is the current managing director. Andrew and Stuart, his sons, are both directors - the fifth generation to be involved.

There is certainly a sense of history about the business with pictures of the company’s first three generations staring down from the boardroom wall. But the firm has never been backward looking. It has always grasped opportunities to diversify and grow to the point were it now has 131 employees. Among its varied interests are the Avonhaugh Nursing Home, in Stonehouse, a furniture auction in Hamilton and a dairy engineering operation. It is also an animal feed merchant and manufacturer.

Of course, even with this broad base, the company’s fortunes are closely allied to the farming industry - a sector that has experienced troubled times recently. “We’ve come through BSE and now Foot and Mouth and things are running about as mean and lean as they can do,” says Stuart. “There’s been a lot of casualties and some of the high flyers have flown. In the case of Foot and Mouth, we’ve been helped by the fact that we are a local merchant serving the local community.”

With food scares round every corner, the farming industry has come under exceptional scrutiny over recent years. One consequence has been the introduction of the United Kingdom Agricultural Supply Trade Association’s (UKASTA) new feed assurance standards. L S Smellie and Sons already had the necessary expertise, but it was still a huge operation to ensure everyone had the right paper qualifications to gain accreditation. The company was grateful to receive a Lanarkshire Business Training Grant through South Lanarkshire Economic Development (SLED) to assist with the cost.

Implementing the scheme has still been a demanding process. “I think they’ve more stringent standards now for animal feed than human feed,” says Stuart. But from a commercial point of view it was worth it. As of October this year, all milk suppliers will only accept milk from producers who use UKASTA approved feed. Scottish Quality Beef and Lamb have also adopted it as a standard.

Small Business Gateway East Kilbride has also worked closely with SLED to deliver support to the company including a Property Improvement Grant accessed through the South Lanarkshire Business Venture Fund. In 1985, the company moved from Hamilton to its current home in Strathaven. Around two years ago, the growth of the feed operation meant additional storage capacity was required. “We had plans for a new shed and approached the Council to see what assistance was there,” says Stuart. “The money we received was a great help.”

The extension, which is used to store grain, wraps around the original shed in an L-shape more than doubling available floor space. The extra storage space has allowed the company to expand to blending between 6-7,000 tonnes of feed a year. As ever, it has an eye to the future with the extension providing enough room for further growth. Troubled times or not, L S Smellie and Sons is one firm that’s definitely in it for the long haul.

Business South Lanarkshire - Winter 2001

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