Paisley tannery impresses local politicians
13/01/2012
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Paisley, George Adam, made a visit to a local tannery his first official engagement of 2012.
Accompanied by Celia Lawson, the provost (similar to the role of mayor) of the local authority, Renfrewshire, Mr Adam toured the W.J & W Lang in central Paisley.
Lang's celebrates its 140th anniversary in 2012 and is the oldest manufacturing company in Paisley still producing on its original site. The company employs 60 people and says it has increased turnover substantially in the last few years. It is part of the Scottish Leather Group, producing wet blue and wet white for finishing at the group's other tanneries, Bridge of Weir Leather and Andrew Muirhead. These companies supply finished leather to many of the world’s major airlines and car manufacturers such as Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Volvo, Aston Martin and Ford.
Hugh Gilmour, managing director of Lang's, hosted the politicians' visit and said afterwards: “We are delighted that Mr Adam’s first appointment of 2012 was to visit our factory in the heart of Paisley and were also delighted that Renfrewshire’s provost was able to take time out of her busy schedule to see the operation and discuss our plans for the future.
“As a major employer we are committed to Paisley. Many of our workforce are second and in some cases third generation of the same family to work here. With our emphasis on training, innovation and investment we are thriving where many of the traditional local industries have disappeared. We recently invested £500,000 in new equipment and are further investing in continuous improvements to our environmental performance.”
Mr Adam explained that, although his home is close to the W.J & W Lang premises, he had never been insisde before. He said: “I was delighted to be invited along to see the great work being carried out right in the centre of our town. Having a business in Paisley, employing local people, which supplies leather to companies all around the world is fantastic. Over recent years, the factory has developed and invested to modernise itself, while looking to improve its green performance.”
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