Working at the heart
of baking since 1885
Scobie & McIntosh Ltd has been supplying specialist machinery to the baking industry for over 120 years. We are one of the longest trading companies in the UK; a strong family business that has become synonymous with quality and outstanding, friendly service. In 1885, Mr Scobie and Mr McIntosh founded the original company in Edinburgh and although Scobie was a partner only for a short while, McIntosh remained, and his family still run the business today.
An early Rotary Mixing plant as supplied by the company. It could mix 280lbs of dough in 4 minutes.
Vintage hot air oven, supplied in a choice of one to three desks
An image of the works in 1904
In the early days, Scobie & McIntosh manufactured kitchen equipment like cake and bread tins, as well as a range of hand tools like dockers, hozzles and fomenting tubs. The catalogue of 1904 offers a fascinating insight into how far modern kitchens have come. As the business grew, the company offices moved from Niddrie Street to Cockburn Street with its factory and works at Greenside Place (behind the present day Playhouse Theatre), and the product range widened to include ornate copper tea and coffee urns and early machinery for commercial bakers. The company's reputation for precision metalwork began to grow, enabling it to make aerial vanes for torpedoes during The Great War, and casings for marine radios during World War II.
In 1922, the company under Uncle Mac (the last Mr McIntosh) had moved to Fountainbridge, but during the Depression of the 1930s, it struggled to make a profit and was taken over by Uncle Mac's brothers-in-law, James and John Brown, owners of Forth & Clyde & Sunnyside Ironworks in Falkirk. Under the management and vision of Peter Alderson, Scobie & McIntosh was revitalised, becoming a respected national supplier of catering equipment in the 1950s. The factory, now in Annandale Street, began working in stainless steel fabrication, still a large part of the company's business today.
In 1965, Peter's son, Geoffrey, joined the company. He concentrated initially on developing an English market for Scobie's products, before returning to Edinburgh in 1979 to take over as Managing Director. In 2010 Geoffrey's son Andrew took over the helm as chairman.
In recent years, Scobie & McIntosh has continued to respond to changing times and our customers' needs. The opening of our impressive facilities in Birstall, West Yorkshire, from where we offer a comprehensive sales and engineering operation, means we can offer our customers unrivalled service in a modern setting. Our product catalogue has changed beyond recognition from those early days, and we now offer self-service display counters in supermarkets, specialist equipment for school, hotel and hospital kitchens, and even galley design for oil rigs. We make and service equipment for every kind of bakery, from large in-store operations to artisan bakers creating bread and cakes in the traditional way.
Scobie & McIntosh's longevity and expertise means that as your business grows, we will be with you every step of the way.