A fifth-generation family business is celebrating 150 years of salt-based success. Founded in 1874, Ayrshire’s Peacock Salt is the UK’s largest salt supplier, shipping more than 200,000 tonnes of salt annually and distributing it to over 40,000 destinations across the UK.
The business is now in its fifth generation of being family run, with Managing Director Gregorie Marshall having taken the helm from his father Harley in 2014. Known for being ‘Serious about Salt’, Peacock Salt has seen increased demand for its growing product range with over 100 different types of salt for over 14,000 different uses.
The company has changed shape entirely over its 150-year journey – from humble beginnings as a ship’s broker on Glasgow’s River Clyde, Peacock Salt is now the largest salt business in the UK.
The majority of its salt products are used for de-icing and winter maintenance on the roads as well as in aquaculture, landscaping and food manufacturing, among many other industries.
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Gregorie attributes Peacock Salt’s substantial success over the last 150 years to its agility and aptitude for innovation:
“We believe that the future is as important as the past. As we embark on the next 150 years, we remain committed to innovation, excellence, and making a positive impact on our community.
That’s what will drive our strategy for the future as we aim to increase and diversify our market share, and to secure a more sustainable future for the company and its employees.”
Peacock Salt is used for:
- Preserving over 500,000 fish each year in the fishing industry
- Protecting the leather of over 10 million car seats annually
- De-icing roads with enough salt to cover 1.5 million football pitches each winter
- Adding to 1.5 million tonnes of animal feed annually
- Enough water softening salt to fill 9,000 Olympic swimming pools every year
Gregorie, whose great-great grandfather J.C. Peacock founded the company, has continued to expand and diversify the business since he became MD.
The business has recently acquired water softening specialists Firenze in April 2024, allowing Peacock to expand its presence in the south of England, and added Peacock Turfscape to its portfolio in 2022, which provides a range of landscaping materials including locally grown turf from Paisley.
Working with wife and business partner Whirly Marshall, the duo also created Blackthorn Salt in 2019, bringing something new to the Scottish culinary scene as well as its landscape with the addition of an innovative Blackthorn graduation tower at Peacock Salt’s HQ in Ayrshire.
For more information, visit www.peacocksalt.com.
