Glasgow firm Macfarlane buys Scottish group for £18m

the acquisition, which includes an earn-out of up to £4m over two years, is the biggest undertaken by Macfarlane since its purchase of National Packaging for £21.7m in 2001. It adds 159 employees across four locations to its headcount, with the senior management team of Pitreavie remaining on board to support the continued growth of the combined business. Macfarlane has more than 1,000 employees in 40 sites around the UK, as well as Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Pitreavie, which has been owned and built up by Joe Diamond and Gordon Delaney since 2005, has two sites in Cumbernauld, including its headquarters, as well as operations in Glenrothes and Aberdeen. The firm designs, manufactures, and distributes protective packaging to customers in the food and drink, energy, electronics, and industrial sectors, mainly in Scotland. It reported adjusted pre-tax profits of £1.3m on sales of £24.8m in the year ended December 31, 2024.

Macfarlane, which was founded as a commercial stationer by the late Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden shortly after the Second World War, declared in a statement that it sees “significant opportunities” to grow the merged company through their respective industry expertise, bespoke protective packaging products, and common supplier base. It noted that Pitreavie offers corrugate manufacturing expertise and capacity to support Macfarlane’s distribution businesses in Scotland and the north of England.

The deal was funded entirely by Macfarlane’s existing bank facility, with the company stating that it “continues to operate well within its recently improved banking facility of £40m and related covenants, which are committed until November 2027”.

Peter Atkinson, long-standing chief executive of Macfarlane, said: “Pitreavie is a fast-growing, well-invested company with an experienced management team that is fully committed to the business. The acquisition represents a unique and exciting opportunity to grow our business in Scotland and provide in-house supply to our businesses in the north of England.

“We look forward to working with the team at Pitreavie to support its continued growth and develop opportunities for us to work together to provide our customers with a broader portfolio of protective packaging solutions.”

Stephen Hislop, managing director of The Pitreavie Group, said: “This is an exciting next chapter for the Pitreavie business and, together with my senior management team, I look forward to working with the team at Macfarlane Group to ensure a seamless transition.

“The future looks extremely bright for our staff as part of an enlarged organisation of considerable strength and scale.”

Mr Diamond noted: “We are immensely proud of all we have achieved under the Pitreavie banner. We knew that the sale of the company had to be to a business with the same expertise, ambition and deep respect for the industry.”

Mr Delaney added: “Macfarlane Group is a perfect fit with obvious synergies, and we are excited that our employees and customers will have access to such a broad range of packaging solutions going forward. We especially want to thank Stephen Heslop and all of our valued employees, across our four sites, for their work in helping drive the growth story under our ownership. We wish the new venture every success for the future.”

The Pitreavie acquisition comes shortly after Macfarlane, which supplies big-named retailers such as Dunelm, Currys, IKEA, and Boots, spelled out the cost of tax hikes announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves at the autumn Budget. The firm told the stock market in late November that the rise in employer national insurance contributions and national living wage will cost the firm around £1.5m per year when the changes take place in April.