Motorway forces lab move

A family firm that has weathered the depression, two World Wars and the rapidly-changing nature of 20th century technology has had to move because of an extention to a motorway.

McQuilkin, who own Laboratory Specialist Services, has traded in Glasgow for almost 100 years, once sharing a back yard with the emerging restaurant-to-hotels tycoon, Sir Reo Stakis. But the laboratory supplies company will now have to leave the city to make way for the extension of the M74 Motorway.

However, Gordon McQuilkin, owner of the company, is determined to make the most of the relocation to a new facility in East Kilbride. He said: “I know many people are moving reluctantly because of the new road. But we see the forced change as a fantastic opportunity to take our company straight into the 21st century.”      Gordon McQuilkin in positive mood

McQuilkin began in Glasgow in 1910, providing ophthalmic services and distributing chemicals to the giant laboratories of the booming West of Scotland steel industry. Today the company supplies 1,000 customers across the UK in the biotechnology, food and health sectors.

McQuilkin’s new headquarters boast a new ordering system that they say will save customers an entire day. “It’s important to us to know that we can get supplies to people quicker than anyone else. We are determined to make the most of our switch even if it was forced upon us by a motorway.”