An iconic Perthshire company is bucking the economic trend by planning to take on new staff as it struggles to cope with demand in its 50th year.
Buoyed by the royal wedding and forthcoming diamond jubilee and London Olympics, Caithness Glass is also investing in new machinery at its Crieff premises.
A little over three years ago, the famous firm was forced to close its doors and relocate to Strathearn after a “disastrous” final summer under owners Dartington Crystal at its flagship Perth store. Staff have gone on to prove that was a mere blip.
Lead designer Sarah Peterson said, “Caithness moved to the Crieff Visitor Centre in 2008 after spending over 30 years at its Perth site. Now after three years we have doubled in capacity and taken more people on with the intention of taking on more.
“We have had to invest in new machinery and equipment to keep up with our demand, and there does not seem to be any respite in production with overtime a regular occurrence.
“We have had huge success with our royal wedding commemorative range and have already started planning for the royal diamond jubilee.
“Another special factor in the success of the business is that we are also now one of the very select Scottish companies appointed to supply commemorative gifts and souvenirs for the 2012 Olympic Games.”
Image used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user jenny downing.