Scottish Timber Products manufactured Caberboard, a type of chipboard first developed in Germany. The company was formed in 1970 by private traders who invested £30,000 to establish the case for building a Scottish chipboard factory.
Michael Lyons was made Managing Director and prepared proposals which were put to the bank in March 1971. William Brandt’s Sons & Co. Ltd. became merchant bankers on the project in April 1971 and were responsible for finding backers for the project. STP collaborated with a German management company, Bähre & Greten, consulting them on staff training and the arrangement of a loan from Vereinsbank, for which Bähre & Greten acted as guarantor. The initial capital outlay consisted of a loan from Vereinsbank of DM 10 million, a government loan of £1 million and a financial agreement consisting of the purchase of shares and a $1 million loan from CIIC (Chase International Investment Corporation).
A £7 million plant was established in Cowie, Stirlingshire, with the company offices being located in Murray Place, Stirling. At the end of the first full year of trading the Chairman confirmed that the results were promising. He also confirmed that STP had been awarded regional development grants, which allowed the Board to approve the purchase of a coating line and a laminating line.
Such good fortune, however, was short-lived. The general downward movement of Sterling in relation to the Deutschmark left STP in financial difficulty as they struggled to meet their loan repayments. Their attempts to recover from this situation were to no avail and the company was finally dissolved in 1989.
