A dairy has seen a surge in demand for doorstep deliveries with 4,000 customers signing up in a day - and has hired nearly 50 drivers, writes Paul Rodger.

McQueens Dairies, which has a bottling plant in Glasgow and depots around Scotland, has seen an increase in orders since March 23, after the lockdown was implemented.

The family business, which has been operating for 25 years, saw 4,000 new customers sign up in a day during the quarantine and has taken on nearly 50 new staff members, mostly drivers.

In the past six weeks, they have had 30,000 new customers sign up for deliveries as the nation self-isolates due to the pandemic.

Director of McQueens Dairies, Calum McQueen, 36, said: "It started right at the beginning of the lockdown.

"We saw a huge demand in people's shopping habits.

"They were wanting to source what they can and guarantee they get it delivered.

"It's mainly been milk but we've seen a huge increase in eggs and orange and apple juice.

"There's been a huge increase in new customers but also existing customers increasing their deliveries and orders - especially around the time that there were restrictions put in place by supermarkets.

"During the start of the lockdown we had thousands of new customers a day.

"Our business has grown considerably over the past few months and we've employed around 50 new staff members to cope with demand.

"Delivery drivers have been the largest amount of new staff we've employed.

"I guess we're one of the more fortunate ones throughout the outbreak."

Marketing manager Pauline Quigley said: "We've seen a surge in new customers over this time, all the people wanting contact-free deliveries.

"At one point we had 4,000 new customers in a day, when it reached its peak.

"The main challenge we faced was the number of drivers who were having to self-isolate, so we were down in staff but up in orders. So we've had to get staff back.

"We couldn't train new drivers, obviously, because of having to be two metres apart, so that was a challenge as well.

"We couldn't hire new people who hadn't done the job before - we managed to get people back who'd left years ago, but needed a job because they'd lost their current job.

"So it was mostly ex-employees we re-recruited.

"Though we've had the big surge in new customers, we hope they'll stay after the crisis is over; that they'll want to continue to use us, not just during the coronavirus."