New Year’s honors: MBE for the general manager of the last flax mill in Kirkcaldy

Angus Nicoll was the head of Peter Greig & Co Ltd, the last flax mill in Scotland, and he was honored for his service to the textile industry.

Peter Greig & Co, based in St Clair Street, Kirkcaldy, was the last original linen weaving mill in the UK and had been operating since 1825, employing large numbers of people in and around Lang Toun until it closed in April 2021..

Born in the Royal Infirmary in Perth, Mr. Nicoll was educated at Arbroath High School, New Park School in St. Andrews and Glenalmond College, near Perth.

Having first worked in the flax mill, which is the family business, in 1984, Mr. Nicoll worked his way up the corporate ladder, until he and his siblings took over the business in 1998. , at a time when customers were outsourcing supplies to China and India.

It branched out into dobby designs and color woven products and used the skills of the local workforce with huge success. The 61-year-old designs were very popular among interior designers and retailers in the UK textile industry. own money.

Mr Nicoll, who lives near Kennoway, explained why the difficult decision to close Peter Greig & Co Ltd was made: “There were several reasons for the decision to close,” he said. want to move the business forward.

“Continued rising costs, disruption of the supply chain and squeezing margins to unrealistic levels despite a highly efficient production unit combined with the ever-increasing influx of inexpensive fabrics further and further away have made major breakthroughs in the bulk sector on which the company was inspired.

“The decision to shut down was indeed very difficult but was unfortunately the right one, especially since subsequent COVID requirements and the now unrealistically extended delivery time for raw materials would ensure that the plant would have operated at unacceptable levels. “

Mr. Nicoll said he was delighted to have been honored: “It is both a huge privilege and an honor to have received an MBE for services rendered to the textile industry and I am delighted to have it. received, ”he said.

“Having been the grateful recipient, I really think this is a team award that I share with all the dedicated people who have been a part of Peter Greig & Co Ltd, past and recent, whose contribution and service both in Scotland and the UK the textile industry was invaluable from the company’s original site on St Clair Street in Kirkcaldy.

“Much of my life has been immersed in the making and promotion of natural fabrics, especially linen and this was made possible not only by everyone at the mill but also by the immense and unwavering support of my immediate family. and enlarged.

“It is this support that has been instrumental in the many accomplishments of the company over the decades that I am most proud of.”