By Tracey Graham, Director, Abercromby Vending
I’m not too good at blowing my own trumpet, but this is one of those occasions when you have no choice! We’ve been short-listed for a Vendie award in the ‘less than £2m turnover’ category and it’d be rude not to produce a ‘vote for Abercromby Vending manifesto’, so here it is!
We think we deserve your vote because after ten years in the business we finally feel vindicated in our decision to approach vending in Scotland from a different, fresh angle. You have to understand that my brother Thomas and I were born and brought up in the East End of Glasgow, spiritual home of the Deep-fried Mars bar; the last place you’d choose to start a business with a mission to merge the talents of a caterer with those of a vending engineer. But that’s exactly what we did: we became Scotland’s first exclusively fresh food vending company in a part of the country where food, nutrition and obesity are high priority social issues.
We have a purpose-built fresh food production facility in Arrol Road, (surrounded by the legacy buildings of the 2014 Commonwealth Games) and it’s growing all the time as more and more Scottish companies replace out-moded, expensive and unpopular ‘canteens’ with Abercromby Vending Suites that serve freshly made, healthy food , top-quality beverages and a wide range of chilled drinks.
In fact, we’re the only vending company in the country to have been accredited with the Scottish Governments ‘Healthy Living Award’ and have just been accredited with Healthy Living Plus. Would you believe that our new childrens’ hospital in Glasgow has 100% healthy product range?
Back to the subject of the Games: we were delighted when we were awarded that contract, not least because it made us feel part of the whole regeneration of the East End. We didn’t think things could get much better but to be honest with you, that was just the beginning. Since then, we’ve won a couple of ‘game changing’ contracts: Glasgow’s new Southern General Hospital, where all our machines offer fare that complies with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde guidelines and Glasgow Airport, a contract comprising 49 machines, all equipped for cashless payment.
Frankly, it’s been a couple of years we could never have imagined when we set out just ten years ago.
We think you should vote for us because I think it’s fair to say that, thanks to our efforts, vending in Scotland hasn’t been demonized quite as much as it has in other countries. People are beginning to expect their vending machines to provide healthy, wholesome fare up here, and we think that’s a result…
So please bear Abercromby Vending in mind when you come to cast your vote. It would mean a great deal to us if we were recognised by our peers as being worthy winners of a Vendie. Click here to vote, and thanks.
