INCREASING BUSINESS.
For many years the hands of the Bakery board were never out of the mortar tub, and by a slight inadvertence they fell foul, in the early summer of 1894, of the building regulations of the city. From the beginning of the year they had been in communication with the master of works of the city about some alterations which they wished to make on an old building situated on their land at Clydeside. It was necessary that some work should be carried out inside this building, and, in the course of alterations, a part of the outside wall was taken down, and was in process of rebuilding when the master of works came on the scene, stopped the work, and reported the Society to the Procurator Fiscal for a contravention of the by-laws. The result was that the Society was fined £1, 1s., but, as the work they had done was allowed to stand, they came out of the business not so badly.
By the middle of August 1894, the new biscuit factory had started operations, and the Society was able once more to fulfil the orders for biscuits which came pouring in. Already, however, the latest extension of the bread bakery was beginning to have its productive capacity taxed, and at the 104th quarterly meeting the directors obtained power from the quarterly meeting to proceed with a further extension of the bakery, this time at the corner of Govan Street and South York Street. First, however, they turned their attention to a further extension of the biscuit factory, where they had plans prepared for the erection of another flat, with provision for seven ovens. Already they had a biscuit traveller on the road who was doing well, and by the middle of the year arrangements were made with the Wholesale whereby they secured premises for a biscuit depot at Leith, and a van was placed on the road for the delivery of their goods in the East.
It was not until the beginning of the following year that the plans for the addition to the bakery were ready. These provided for a building with three flats of ovens, giving an additional baking capacity of fifty ovens. When the plans were agreed to by the quarterly meeting a strong recommendation was made that the work be carried out by the Society’s own workmen, and this was done.
The next step in the scheme of extensions was the purchase of the ground at the south corner of South York Street and Govan Street on which the stables and St Mungo Halls now stand. This ground, which had an extent of 9,813 square yards, cost £8,839, 9s. In pursuance of the policy of the Society to carry out the construction of the addition to the bakery themselves, a foreman builder was engaged, at a salary of £4 a week, and building plant was bought at a cost of almost £500. The new addition was not completed until October 1897; its opening being made the occasion of a demonstration, at which a company of 1,600 people were present. The cost of the new building was £29,000. The building was a bakery complete in itself, having fifty ovens, a barmroom, breadroom, and storage for 3,000 sacks of flour. The whole bakery now had a baking capacity of 150 ovens, capable of turning out over 560,000 loaves per week.