Maryhill bakery McGhee’s looks back over 90 years of Glasgow family business

McGhee’s Bakery has released a collection of archive images to mark its 90th anniversary, charting its journey from a small family bakery in Maryhill to one of Scotland’s biggest brands.

Founded by Dugald McGhee in Glasgow in 1936, the bakery began with a simple ambition to feed its local community with fresh, affordable baking. Ninety years on, McGhee’s remains family-run, in the hands of the third and fourth generation, producing many of Scotland’s best-loved staples including morning rolls, tattie scones, doughnuts and its iconic empire biscuit.

Across nine decades, McGhee’s estimates it has baked around 145 million empire biscuits. If laid end to end, that volume would stretch for more than 10,000 kilometres, equivalent to the distance from Glasgow to Tokyo.

The archive images show how the business has evolved over time, from a wee shop and wartime production to purpose-built bakeries, modern distribution and nationwide reach. Alongside empire biscuits, the bakery estimates it has also produced 237,837,600 pineapple tarts and a staggering 369,460,000 packets of potato scones since opening its doors.

Founded in 1936, McGhee’s Bakery is a family-run Scottish bakery now led by the third fourth generation of the McGhee family. In 2025, it was named Scotland’s second most chosen food and drink brand in the Worldpanel by Numerator Scotland Brand Footprint report.

McGhee’s frst shop opened on Oran Street in Maryhill in 1937, a year after Dugald McGhee, a van salesman, opened a small bakery on nearby Springbank Street.

Dugald’s sons – Jim, Calder, Douglas, and Gavin – joined the family business and became directors in 1954. McGhee’s products first appeared in supermarkets in 1998 and the company moved to a purpose built home at Port Dundas in 2005.