PREMIUM paper and board producer Tullis Russell has held a series of activities and fundraising events at its Markinch mill to celebrate ‘Employee Ownership Day’. The 205-year old company joined other UK firms to celebrate “what makes employee-owned businesses different and better equipped to meet the demands of the future”.
The day included mill tours and fundraising initiatives for local cancer charity Maggies and the AnsanFerry Disaster Appeal. It was attended by past chairman David Erdal who, in 1987, was the architect of employee ownership at Tullis Russell.
The firm now has over 740 employee owners working across three international sites. Its mills at Markinch supply premium paper and cartonboard to some of the biggest global brands including Swarovski, L’Oréal and Morrison Bowmore.
Chief executive Chris Parr said: ”We are Scotland’s longest established, and largest,employee owned business. Our structure facilitates independent decision making allowing us to focus on the long-term without the short-term pressures often imposed by external shareholders.
This allows us to make the right decisions to safeguard our future and deliver real benefits to the business and our local community. With our partners RWE npower renewables a new £200 million CHP plant started providing sustainable energy for our mill this year, significantly improving our competiveness and making a major contribution to Scotland’s renewable energy targets.”
