Further growth for Lillie Brothers

A family-run Falmouth business that started life 40 years ago delivering milk to local houses, is now ready for the latest stage of its multi-million pound development after achieving an ISO 9001 certification.

From a single milk round purchased in 1974, Lillie Brothers of Falmouth has grown; evolving its business to meet the challenge of supermarket chains in the early 1990s to become a major name in the milk and dairy business delivering to businesses across the tourism, food and health care sectors in Devon and Cornwall.

Now the company, which is still owned and run by Jack and Fred Lillie along with other members of the Lillie family, is taking another step forward in its growth with the opening of a new depot in Exeter and the achievement of the ISO certification.

According to Jack Lillie, who started work in the business in 1975, the achievement of the ISO certification, which was attained after working with Roger Preston of International Management Systems Marketing (IMSM), was a vital part of the business’s ongoing development.

He said: “Through the 70s and 80s we went from one round to eight in and around Falmouth but by the early 1990s had to diversify to meet the challenge faced from supermarkets which really hit doorstep deliveries hard.

“That challenge has led to our ultimate growth, which has seen us build a successful wholesale business delivering to hotels, restaurants and cafes right through to hospitals and care home businesses from Penzance, throughout Cornwall and into south Devon.

“As our customers have grown, we felt it important to demonstrate our commitment to quality standards and the ISO 9001 Certification will help us achieve that, particularly as we move to supply more hospitals and hotel chains.”

The company is now delivering over 2.6 million of litres of milk every year and employs 13 people from its Falmouth base on the Tregoniggie Industrial Estate, a figure set to grow with the opening of the new Devon depot.