Being appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Kincardineshire is the icing on the cake for the chairman of a Stonehaven bakery supply firm.
Alastair Macphie, who has worked with Macphie of Glenbervie for more than 25 years, said he was “honoured” to take over a role that was occupied in the past by his mother.
Mr Macphie said he saw the position as a chance to expand the work that the family firm does in the north-east community.
He said: “The Lord Lieutenant, Carol Kinghorn, phoned me up and advised me that they were looking for some new blood, and asked if it was something I would be interested in.
“After a short consideration I decided that it would be a great honour to do it.
“From a business point of view, we like to support the communities in which we work and this is an opportunity for me to do something further for the people around Glenbervie.”
The company runs a series of community initiatives such as industry challenges at local schools, and develops internships at different universities across Scotland.
As Deputy Lieutenant Mr Macphie is following in the footsteps of his mother Jill, who undertook the duty for a number of years until she retired in her 70s.
Mr Macphie was appointed by Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant for Kincardinshire Carol Kinghorn, and will assist her in carrying out duties on behalf of he Queen across the county.
He said he was looking forward to getting down to work.
“There will be a number of events where the Lord Lieutenant is unavailable and I will attend in her place – I will do whatever is required of me,” he said.
“I’m very honoured to be offered this opportunity to further help the community.”
Mr Macphie took over as chairman of the family business in 1997 and has overseen a significant expansion – with turnover increasing to £44.4million last year.
The family has been custodian of the 2,000-acre Glenbervie Estate, near Stonehaven, since 1296, and the current chairman has lived there for 25 years.
The firm started life in 1928 as a small, family-run bakery wholesale business in Glasgow.
It transformed into a major manufacturing force after Mr McPhie’s father, Stewart, took over the reins in 1954.
The business was relocated to the ancestral home in 1973 and it was there that it started to manufacture bakery ingredients from a new, purpose-built factory.
Mr Macphie was appointed managing director in 1995 and took over as chairman in 1997following the death of his father.
Macphie products are used by bakers, pubs, restaurants, hotels, ready-made meal firms and caterers nationwide.
Today the firm’s Glenbervie base employs 275 people.
In 2008, Macphie became the first manufacturer to produce food ingredients using green energy created from locally-sourced wood chips.
The on-site, multi-million pound 1.2MW biomass boiler was the first of its kind in Scotland and generates steam, which is fed directly into the UHT plant.