Like the fabled phoenix, Campbells rises from the ashes to shine again

A COLUMN of smoke rising 2,000 feet into the early morning Lothian sky in May last year was the first sign that something was seriously wrong at Campbells Prime Meat factory in Broxburn.

The fire, caused by a gas leak, destroyed the family-owned firm's main meat-cutting operation putting hundreds of jobs at risk, not to mention the meat supply of some of Scotland's leading restaurants - as well as that of Saughton Prison.

Christopher Campbell, right, the firm's managing director, counts himself lucky. Within 12 days the firm was delivering meat from temporary premises at Livingston FC's Almondvale Stadium. Its fish wholesale services, which was next door to the fire but unaffected by it - was trading by 9am on the day of the disaster.

Within months, the firm had relocated to premises just ten miles down the road - into a former abattoir that had been left unused after its previous owners had collapsed into administration.

The firm has just unveiled the completion of a 6 million investment into the site at Heatherfield near Linlithgow, reuniting the firm's meat, fish, import and administrative operations. Campbell, who took over the running of the business from his father Edward four years ago, said the firm has since recovered 90 per cent of its pre-fire trading.

The company is set to release its accounts this month, which will show an improvement on its last accounts in 2008, when the firm had sales of 52.5m and profits of 1.2m.

Campbell credits much of the increase to the value of the state-of-the-art factory, which is 35 per cent larger than its previous 17-year-old site.

The firm claims to be the biggest buyer of meat from Scottish abattoirs after the supermarkets.

Campbell is proud of the fact his business has withstood the test of the fire, which he said was one of the most dramatic moments of his career.

"Our advisers told us not every company recovers from such a major event," said Campbell.

He said the firm had to lay off half of its 260 staff for about three months, but he was especially gratified to see 90 per cent of them return when the company re-hired three months later. "Many of our staff are Polish, we thought we'd never see them again," he said.

Campbells, which was established by the current managing director's great-grandfather, is celebrating its centenary year in the meat trade. The firm sells to some of Scotland's best restaurants, including Martin Wishart and Ondine in Edinburgh, as well as all of Scotland's five star hotels. Tom Kitchin, chef patron of the Michelin starred Kitchin restaurant, sources his trademark crispy pig ears from Campbells.Other customers include football club catering services.