As The Ootsider makes the headlines with relocating our manufacturing operations to the West Lothian facility, we thought it was a good time to sit down and ask how the new set up is going to help drive the company forward to be able to reach even more rough sleepers.
John, why did you move our manufacturing to Livingston?
Our office was already in Livingston so when there were a few changes in the business it just seemed a great opportunity to bring everything under one roof. I’ve lived all my life in West Lothian so I’m proud to be able to do a bit more to help the local economy while were also helping rough sleepers. The new facility has the potential to help us scale the production of our sleeping coats and our central location makes it easy to get the coats to the people who need them.
Did you have a grand opening ceremony?
No, we wanted just to keep everything a bit low key. We wanted everyone to know that it was just business as usual and there is no disruption as we transferred manufacturing. We did, however, have the local MP round! Gregor Poynton paid us a vist and he was very impressed with what we were doing and the quality of our Sleeping Coats. We even got him to model one of them so, you never know, you might yet see him walk around the streets of Livingston with his Ootsider on!
Who is Toni-Leigh Hogarth and why do you let her near sharp objects?
Toni is our new master seamstress and she is fantastic. She brings mountains of experience and her skills have to be seen to be believed. As all our sleeping coats and robes are handmade and Toni is adding new levels of precision and quality. Also, working with Toni helps as continue to ensure that everything we do is ethically sourced and produced in Scotland. She’s also great around the office. Well, she puts up with me and that can be challenging!!
Isn’t something big happening our Sleeping Coats in Glasgow?
Yes but I can’t say too much about it. Suffice to say that there are an incredible amount of good people out there. Many of these people do good but want absolutely no recognition for it. They do stuff because it’s the right thing to do. We were approached by such an organisation and asked to create 25 new Sleeping Coats that they can distribute to homeless people in Glasgow. It’s an incredible and humbling gesture. Maybe I’ll be able to say a little more over the next few months.
So, what has Tunnocks Teacakes got to do with it?
We’re proud that all of our products are made in Scotland so when you’re having a business meeting there can really only be one snack – the Tunnocks Teacake. As our new facility opened, we had a business brainstorm to see where we wanted to take the business in the near future. The teacakes gave us the energy to come up with some really great ideas that we’ve already started working on. I do have to say, however, that we didn’t wash them down with Irn Bru. We’d all have been awake all night!
It’s great that the Ootsider is getting noticed like this article in the Daily Record article but we’re not slowing down. Not a bit of it, there’s far too much to do. Our new set-up means we can speed things up. That includes a lot of new products but that’s for future blogs. So keep your eyes peeled.
