Silver lining as Scope Bathrooms celebrates 25 years at Hillington Park

More than 500 businesses proudly base themselves at Hillington Park, with many successfully trading from the estate for many years. Scope Bathrooms has been on the estate for 25 years and we caught up with its General Manager, Derek Miller, to find out more about the business and its plans for the future as it marks its silver anniversary on the Park.

Scope Bathrooms is a well-known name on Hillington Park so when did you first move here and what did the business do?

We first moved to Hillington Park in 1998 and opened for business in 1999. Initially, we were a subsidiary company of Plumbline Supplies, and specialised in bathroom supply to private clients. A few years later in 2004, Plumbline was acquired by another firm, and we became a separate, independent business. Around that time, we started to work closely with small, specialist housebuilders as well as architects and designers and this became our main area of interest, and today constitutes the majority of our turnover.

How would you describe what your business does now?

We’re still predominantly a contract supplier of bathrooms to high-end housebuilders, but also to the hospitality sector and student residences. Around 20% of our business is driven through our showroom supplying to private clients and interior designers at the luxury end of the market.

It sounds very busy, how many staff do you employ?

There are 21 of us in total and yes, we’re very busy!

Can you summarise Scope’s evolution at Hillington Park?

We celebrate our 25th anniversary this year, and Hillington has been a part of our story since day one. We traded from 40 Colquhoun Avenue for 24 years and added two further units at 44 Colquhoun Avenue and 32 Hepburn Road as overspill warehouse units to support the business’s expansion. We also operated from a further warehouse at 43 Colquhoun Avenue from 2005-2008. Last year, we moved to a new distribution centre at the new Hillington West development and converted 44 Colquhoun Avenue to a design studio/showroom. It would be fair to say the business has been transformed for our silver anniversary.

Do you have any highlights in business that you enjoy sharing with colleagues and/or customers?

Opening our new distribution centre and design studio/showroom, was the culmination of 25 years of effort, so that has to be my own personal highlight.

Scope is now part of a much larger business – how did that come about and what has that meant for the business?

Scope was acquired in 2022 and after 24 years, the timing was right to take the business forward to the next stage of its development. The acquisition allowed my business partner to retire, with myself remaining in situ as General Manager. Most of our team have been with us for many years.

The most obvious impact on Scope has been the major investment into our new distribution centre and design studio/showroom, which has provided a foundation for future growth. These are very exciting times for Scope.

There’s been a lot of work and investment on the estate over the last decade or so. What have been the most significant changes on the estate you’ve seen since the first day you arrived?

Hillington has transformed from a fairly basic industrial estate to a thriving business community, covering a wide range of sectors. From a B2C perspective, Hillington Park has become suited to high end companies, wishing to attract high net worth clients.

We know lots of businesses base themselves at Hillington because of its location and its links to transport networks. Is that true for you too and was that the reason you originally moved onto the estate?

Back in 1998, our then parent company identified Hillington as a good option based on location and competitive pricing. As well as our showroom, they opened a merchant branch, which gave them coverage on the south side of Glasgow. However, Hillington Park is now all about location, and its attractiveness to customers and suppliers alike. The fact that there are so many bathroom and home improvement stores within the locale is a good thing in my opinion.

There are many long-established businesses in Hillington Park. Like us, they have put the estate at the heart of their operation and developed their trading footprint to expand operations. Hillington has transformed from a down-to-earth Industrial Estate to Hillington Park over our quarter century and is part of our DNA.

For more information on Scope Bathrooms visit: https://www.scope-bathrooms.co.uk