History

History

So you want to know about how we got to where we are today? You've come to the right place. Get yourself a cuppa and catch up on the last 45+ years at Dean's.

1985 - Ten years on from our beginnings in Helen Dean’s kitchen and after securing two retailer listings, we moved into a converted grocer’s shop to cope with increased demand.

1992 - We relocated to our purpose-built factory, where we remain today. We also produced our first premium tin range this year. Almost thirty years later and it's safe to say our tins look a little different today!

1993-9 - In 1993, we reached and important milestone by achieving £1million in turnover and the following year, HRH Prince Charles officially opened our purpose built bakery. And finally, in 1999 our first TV ad aired in Scotland and the Gift Shop was expanded to cope with increased popularity.

2006-7 - Continued growth led us to significantly expand our warehouse and distribution unit to 20,000 square feet and our production facility to 60,000 square feet.  The expansion of our premises resulted in our employee numbers growing to around 140. One year later, we opened Scotland’s first visitor attraction dedicated to shortbread incorporating a factory viewing gallery, gift shop, café/bistro, and now the recently built Coffee Stop.

2013 - Our mascot Shortie, joined the family and we released our latest advert on STV. Visitor numbers continued to grow leading to investment in a major refurbishment of our popular café bistro and gift shop.

2015 - Happy 40th Birthday to us! We celebrated 40 years with the launch of our first gluten free shortbread range and a delicious whisky fruit cake, in collaboration with Tomatin.

2018 - Our hugely successful Steven Brown Art range was launched with new designs being created in 2019 and 2020. The range remains one of our most popular lines across the UK and internationally.

2019 - We launched an Oor Wullie shortbread keepsake tin in 2019, in celebration of this fairly local loon. 

2020 - Following the success of Steven Brown Art and Oor Wullie, we collaborated with Peak District photographer Villager Jim featuring stunning images in a unique, keepsake slider tin.

2021 - We launched our fun Wallace & Gromit shortbread and biscuit range. Consisting of three keepsake tins and a range of five biscuits all featuring Wallace & Gromit at tourist locations across the UK. We also launched this brand new website!