How dairy boss Robert Graham grew Stirling business from 7 milk vans to £155m turnover

The Courier

24-05-2025

The title of managing director doesn't sit comfortably with Stirlingshire dairy boss Robert Graham.
The 54-year-old heads up his multi-million-pound third-generation family firm but he refuses to see himself as 'corporate'.
'We are a family business that started with my grandfather milking cows by hand. That is what we are all about,' Robert is keen to stress.
'I hate titles like managing director and CEO, I grew up driving tractors in my school holidays.'
Graham's the Family Dairy, based in Bridge of Allan, is now Scotland's largest independent dairy, shipping products around the world.
Last year, its turnover was more than £155 million – with dozens of products from butter and cottage cheese to kefir and protein ice cream.
However, it began as a herd of just 12 Friesian cows in 1939.
In 1947 – after producing milk to feed the troops during WW2 – Robert's grandfather, Robert Graham, bought his first delivery van.
His father, also Robert Graham, was instrumental in expanding production and by the 1960s, R. Graham & Son was supplying homes and shops in the Stirling area with pasteurised milk.
Born in 1970, Robert Jnr enjoyed a 'wonderful childhood' on Airthrey Kerse Farm.
'I have very fond memories of being a kid. I grew up feeling happy and safe,' he said.
'My dad worked very hard and was out of the house before dawn but we always had dinner together at 5pm – me, my older sister Carol, mum and dad.
'In the winter we would help with lambing and in the summer we would help with the hay.
'I loved driving the tractor in my teens, listening to Depeche Mode and Madonna on my Walkman. Life was simpler then.'
He continued: 'I was fairly privileged, yes, but also pretty normal.
'My friends and I were always out cycling to the local ice cream shop and played tennis, hockey and football.'
Robert went to Beaconhurst independent school in Bridge of Allan for his primary education, before attending Morrison's Academy in Crieff.
He excelled in history and mathematics at school but was less fond of English, he recalls.
While he had a close group of friends, he admits he 'wasn't as popular as Ewan McGregor' in the year below, who was 'too cool for me'.
On finishing school, Robert secured a place at Heriot Watt University to study accountancy and finance.
He had initially planned to move to London after graduating to join an investment firm in the City, but found himself longing to come home.
He said: 'There had been no plan in place for me to join the family business at that point.
'It was certainly a shock for my parents when I came back the summer after university and asked my dad to get involved.
'I had ideas about things that could be done to move the business forward and wanted to give my energy to our company.
'There were also some Halcyon memories of Bridge of Allan, I think.'
Robert recalls 'butting heads' with his father at first – and struggled with the 4am starts.
But his ideas started to bear fruit and the dairy began expanding.
He continued: 'When I came on board, properly, we had about seven vans and only delivered in Stirling.
'I remember writing a list of things we should do on a piece of paper.
'My dad thought it was ridiculous at the time… but we have now done all of the things on that list from more than 30 years ago.
'We both wanted the business to grow and after butting heads at first we started to work really well together.
'When we first made it to £1m turnover we thought that was amazing and then quite quickly we were at £2.5m.'
In the 1990s, Graham's expanded its delivery area beyond Stirling to Falkirk, then Perth and Dunfermline, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Robert Jnr became managing director in 1996 and in 1999 the business won its first supermarket contract.
In 2005, now a household name, Graham's the Family Dairy reported a £22m turnover and started to sell more than just milk.
'It was then we really started to upscale,' Robert recalls.
'We expanded into butter and Jersey milk and then, in 2010, we started making yoghurt.
'Looking back, I am very proud of everything the team achieved to build the business.'
In recent years, thanks in part to a 'dairy renaissance' – as Robert calls it – sales have rocketed for Graham's.
Growing numbers of consumers have turned their back on processed oat and nut milks in favour of high-protein, natural foods.
The volume of Graham's cottage cheese sold has increased by an astonishing 80% year-on-year – the equivalent of two million extra kilograms of cottage cheese.
The Stirlingshire firm, which has its own prize Jersey herd at Mains of Boquhan near Kippen, now works with 90 milk producers across the country.
'Remarkably, our protein pouches are now bigger than our conventional milk business – and milk is what our whole business was built on.
'10 years ago, butter our second biggest line but now, despite still selling well, it's no longer one of our top eight products.
'We are fortunate to be in product categories that are going through explosive growth just now.
'Fats are no longer demonised and people are looking for high-quality, high-protein natural foods.
'The story and provenance of our brand is also very important to our customers.'
Despite growing revenue, Graham's the Family Dairy has not been immune to energy price and national insurance hikes.
2023 saw it suffer its first operating loss of £200,000 but last year it was back in £4.5m profit.
Robert is confident that 2025 will see a further increase but admits 'it has been very tough'.
Fewer than 50% of Graham's sales are now Scottish. The vast majority of the remaining sales come from south of the border but the products are also popular in Ireland.
In recent years, Graham's now exports to a number of Arab nations and Caribbean islands.
Growing the brand internationally is something Robert hopes to continue, but he is also keen to make the most of the time he isn't at work.
The father-of-three says he has always tried to do as much as he can for his children – teenagers Holly and Douglas and seven-year-old Charlie.
Being able to attend each of Holly's school hockey matches is something he is immensely proud of, and he provides 'dad's taxi service' whenever he is called upon.
A keen hill runner, who regularly climbs nearby Dumyat at speed, he is also determined to keep his fitness up.
'One of the perks of having a family business should be that you are able to make time for your own family,' Robert reflects.
'I live a few minutes from the farm and am across most things but I also work with a great team of people – including my 84-year-old dad and my sister Carol – who I trust to get things done.'