This month Forbes Technologies will be marking a very significant milestone. Our production facility in Kelso, Roxburghshire will be celebrating its golden anniversary.

It is nearly fifty years to the day since production was moved from Norfolk to The Scottish Borders after we outgrew our original facility.

Much has changed in the intervening years.

Over its five decade history the Kelso site has grown from 500m2 to 20,000m2. From the original one production unit, there are now five purpose-built factories.

The latest facility, an automated production plant for large capacity spiral wound thermoplastics tanks, was commissioned in 2013 and extended by a further 50% in 2017.

New Developments for 2020

To coincide with the golden anniversary, a significant £500,000 investment has been made in the shape of a new architect-designed office building.

This will replace the previous block which dated back to the 1980s and will ensure that the offices are as state-of-the-art as the production facilities.

The new building will be officially opened in early April 2020.

Long Service Awards

However despite the site’s growth in terms of size and technology, some things have stayed the same, the most notable being the loyalty and commitment of the Kelso staff.

In a case of shared golden anniversaries, one employee John Wight who started on 20 April 1970 will be retiring this year after nearly 50 years of service. The next longest serving employee, Frank Livingstone, joined in 1973.