This is the sight thousands of morning roll lovers thought they would never see again.
The famous Mortons Rolls bakery was back in production yesterday – 15 days after it closed its doors.
Up to 250 jobs were feared to have been lost when the firm based in Drumchapel, Glasgow, collapsed on March 3.
But on Friday the baker announced it had been taken over by a consortium.
Yesterday a small number of staff were at the factory to make test bakes before full production begins today at 7am.
The Sunday Mail was given an exclusive sneak preview of the operation, designed to ensure the ovens were working properly after laying idle for more than two weeks.
We watched as hundreds of freshly baked rolls successfully came out in the space of a few hours.
But there was no sign of the famous crispy rolls as their production is not due to begin until later today.
IT manager Gary McCauley was at the plant yesterday to oversee the testing and vowed both their rolls will be back in the shops as normal tomorrow.
He added: “The test bakes have gone well and the rolls are looking good. We are looking forward to getting back to full production tomorrow, particularly our legendary crispy rolls.”
The bakery will restart production with about 110 staff and it hopes to increase this back to 250 and more if support is forthcoming from the Scottish Government and other agencies.
The firm’s collapse was blamed on the pandemic, rise in energy prices and contractual obligations to supermarkets.
A consortium of Glasgow business people – PVL – has now taken ownership and control of the firm’s assets following negotiations with HMRC, administrators and the Scottish Government.
PVL’s representative John McIlvogue said the new owner hopes to restore production to its previous level of 250,000 rolls a day.
It will focus on supplying small shops rather than supermarkets such as Lidl and Aldi as they did before the collapse.
McIlvogue revealed staff have been taken back on better terms than when they left and will be paid the living wage.
He added: “If we can get the support that has been promised from the First Minister then we can get the 250 back plus more. It’s all about looking after the people who work here.
“Not only has Mortons Rolls got this iconic brand it also has the customers – the last two weeks has shown that.
“We also think our product is head and shoulders above anything that is out there.
“Our aim is to get back to basics and give the public what they want – a fresh crispy roll in the morning.”
McIlvogue declined to name the investors in the firm but described them as “serious Glasgow business people.”
The firm was founded by Bob Morton and Jim Clarke in 1965. The firm’s most recent accounts reported a loss of £262,000 on a turnover of more than £11.8million.
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