Meet Lorraine Cummings

Lorraine Cummings, Factory Manager, has ensured our Hatton factory runs smoothly for over a decade. We caught up with Lorraine to find out what it means to be part of the Murdoch Allan team, what her role involves, and which Murdoch Allan product has surprised her the most!

How long have you worked at Murdoch Allan?

I’ve been with the business since 2001. I started off in the office doing sales and then I went down onto the factory floor to be Katrina’s assistant as she was factory manager at the time. I then worked my way up and when Katrina moved over to manage the shops, I became factory manager – that was 12 years ago!

What is involved in your role as factory manager?

Quite a lot! Production is the main focus. Customers and stores place their orders and then we are given a list of items each night, to freshly bake the following day. It’s my job to make sure it all goes out the door at the end of the day!

There are around 40 staff across the bakery, icing, packing and confectionary departments. The bakers start their day at 5am and begin with the longer process items that go through several departments first. For example, coconut cream cookies, we need to make the rolls, then we need to ice them, then we fill them with cream, and finally pack them.

How many items would you produce on an average day?

It all depends on what day of the week it is. Thursday is our busiest day as we get products ready to go into shops for the weekend. We would do around 500-600 packets of cookies on a Thursday!

What is the best thing about working here?

It’s very family-orientated and you are treated like a member of the family. Paul and Katrina are very approachable and lovely to work with and that creates a comfortable atmosphere where everyone wants to do their best!

What is your favourite Murdoch Allan product?

I don’t have a big sweet-tooth to be honest! We do some lovely shortbread rounds though and I am partial to a custard cream. My favourite is probably the buttery, they are very good.

Are there any products that surprised you with how popular they were?

A doughnut line. One has Edinburgh rock in the middle and the other one has honeycomb. I thought: “Hmmm these are quite unusual, I’m not sure how they will sell..”. But they have proved popular, and we make anything from 50-150 packs each day!