New chapter for book firm

Well known publishing firm HarperCollins threw a 1970s street party to celebrate its 40th anniversary in 
Bishopbriggs recently.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th Dec 2013, 16:02 BST

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HarperCollins archivist Dawn Sinclair with some of the books published by the firm over the years.HarperCollins archivist Dawn Sinclair with some of the books published by the firm over the years.
HarperCollins archivist Dawn Sinclair with some of the books published by the firm over the years.

The company opened its distribution, printing and binding centre and office block in the town when Edward Heath was prime minister and the UK entered the Common Market.

The Lord Provost at the time, James Proctor, did the honours, cutting the ribbon to officially declare the centre open on November 27 of that year.

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The HarperCollins distribution centre, which also handles books for a number of third-party clients, now regularly ships out 75 million books a year around the world.

Local director Gordon Scott said: “It was a great day for HarperCollins – to be able to celebrate being 40 years old and still growing is absolutely fantastic.”

Sheena Barclay, deputy managing director of Collins Learning, said: “Collins was founded in Glasgow on the core businesses of dictionaries, atlases, bibles and education books close to 200 years ago. As we near our 40th Anniversary in Bishopbriggs, we are proud of our Scottish heritage.

“Those founding businesses today continue to innovate and lead the world in their fields in print and digital from the site here in Bishopbriggs.”

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The street party featured a range of stalls and fun activities, including a sponsored run and bike ride, a wet sponge competition, shoot the hoop, a tombola and raffle and plenty of prizes.

All proceeds from the event will go towards the Lauren Currie Twilight Foundation, which helps promote awareness of an inflammatory blood condition called Vasculitis.

HarperCollins publishes books by some of the world’s top authors, from Nobel Prize winners to world-wide bestsellers.

It also publishes a selection of non-fiction titles, including history, celebrity memoirs, biographies, popular science, dictionaries, and maps, and bosses say its digital business is thriving.

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It was also the first major UK trade publisher to go carbon neutral in 2007.

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