A happy birthday to Bernard Hunter after 80 years of success - Donald Anderson
Bernard Hunter is a family firm that is a perfect example of how the development industry in Edinburgh can be successful in changing and improving lives.
Bernard Hunter, named after its charismatic founder, specialises in crane hire and metal recycling. I spent more than 20 years as a councillor, but not in Gilmerton. My knowledge of the firm came from the glowing reports from the community in Gilmerton and from its stalwart work in removing abandoned vehicles across south Edinburgh.
Back in the 80s and 90s abandoned vehicles were a plague. It was a weekly occurrence to get reports of burnt-out vehicles in Burdiehouse, Burn Valley Park or St Katharine’s Park in Gracemount. Throughout decades Bernard Hunter removed vehicles quickly and never charged the council a penny for doing so.
The company has done more in the community than that. It was a stalwart and the biggest funder of Fernieside Football Club for many years. It rescued the wonderful Club McKendry, a spinning club, when it lost its home at short notice. The club is led by the inspiration Iain McKendry, and the club still has its home in the Bernard Hunter HQ at Gilmerton.
Bernard Hunter also came to the rescue for another amazing organisation. Drum Field Archers, the biggest community archery club in Scotland, ran successfully at the Bernard Hunter site for many years as it became a phenomenal success after outgrowing its previous home at Gilmerton crossroads.
And this is a company that has been a successful business now for 80 years. The company is now run by Mark Rafferty who along with his father Jim helped secure planning consent for a major transformation of its Gilmerton base.
It was the most positive reception that I’ve ever seen for a major planning application. The proposals included a new supermarket, hotel and workshops, a much-needed new health centre. Also included were proposals for new homes for Drum Field Archers and Club McKendry.
Sadly, despite all the positivity, the planning consent took two years to achieve. In that time the retail and construction market changed and like many developments the commercial viability of the plans fell away. But the proposals remain a blueprint that can move forward if and when the market changes.
In its time at Gilmerton, Bernard Hunter has been the largest private sector employer in the area and has provided well paid jobs for generations of local people, and for much longer than Gilmerton Colliery did when it operated at the same site from 1928-1961.
It is an essential part of the city’s construction and development industry working on major projects like the Queensferry Crossing and been a leading innovator bringing the first hybrid crane to Scotland in 2022.
The company even came to the council’s rescue when a ten-ton humpback whale washed up on the beach at Granton, an enormously complicated and sensitive task.
I’ve worked for more than 40 years in the public and private sector and I’ve seen great work and people in both, but I have to say that I’ve never seen such flawless professionalism, decency and commitment to the community as I’ve seen from Bernard Hunter.
Happy 80th birthday to all the family and staff behind one of the finest companies in Scotland.