HarperCollins has opened a new 550,000 sq ft distribution centre and office in Glasgow.
The publisher, one of the UK's largest, unveiled the state-of-the-art facility on World Book Day.
The new premises in Robroyston will employ 400 people and handle 110 million books a year.
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The building sits on a 2 million sq ft site that has been in development since planning was approved in July 2021.
Scottish Enterprise provided HarperCollins with a £2.7 million grant to design and install the state-of-the-art robotic warehouse management system at the facility.
The publisher, founded as Collins & Co in Glasgow 206 years ago, used the occasion to call for government support to tackle the "crisis in children's reading."
The event was attended by politicians, business leaders, and authors including Jeffrey Archer, Jung Chang, and Sarah Ferguson.
"We’ll continue to grow – as long as people want great books. But that isn’t guaranteed.
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"We’re currently seeing a real crisis in children’s reading – recent studies reveal that fewer than 25 per cent of children read for pleasure frequently, and perhaps most worryingly that only 40 per cent of pre-schoolers are read to frequently.
"This is a problem for publishers – children who don’t grow up loving reading become adults who don’t love reading – but also for the country.
"Children who read do better in life, it’s as simple as that.
"They are not just our future customers, they are the country’s future.
"So, to our guests from government, I ask: let’s support them – let’s have story time in schools, let’s have libraries in primaries, let’s get this generation reading more than the last, and build on that.
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"We can’t afford not to."
To coincide with the launch, HarperCollins teamed up with Glasgow Life to donate a pack of 50 children’s books to every primary school in the city.
The site will also be home to most of the education and reference division of Collins, which publishes dictionaries, atlases, general reference, language learning resources, and children’s non-fiction.
The HarperCollins Archive will also reside within the Robroyston site.
The archive includes rare first edition books, original artwork, correspondence, and contracts relating to many of literature’s greatest names: Agatha Christie, JRR Tolkien, Boris Pasternak, AA Milne, and Michael Bond.
The new site has been built with sustainability in mind: 99 per cent of the earth dug was reused on site; high-efficiency building insulation and cladding, solar panels, all-site LED and energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, charging stations for over 30 EVs will all contribute to the site’s environmental credentials.
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Angus Robertson, Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, said: "I want to congratulate HarperCollins UK on the completion of its new Robroyston office and distribution centre.
"Built with sustainability and energy efficiency in mind, this facility is a very welcome investment that will support more than 400 local jobs, illustrating the creative industries’ indispensable contribution to Scotland’s society and our economy.
"The new archive is also testament to the major role that HarperCollins has had in educating, entertaining and employing people in Scotland over the past two centuries.
"The next chapter of that remarkable legacy now begins with the opening of HarperCollins Robroyston, and I am delighted to be able to mark that on behalf of the Scottish Government."
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