In October 2020, Willie Brown was named in the Queen's Birthday Honours List and awarded the British Empire Medal. The citation was for keeping milk, papers and groceries flowing to 1,100 homes and businesses a week through the first months of the pandemic — at one point fielding 30 phone calls an hour at the farm.

When the pandemic started we had a decision to make. Should we stay at home and join the furlough scheme or should we try and provide a service to the community. We decided to do the latter and the phone started ringing off the hook.

The medal itself was presented two years later, after Covid restrictions and the Queen's death held it back. It was finally handed over in early December 2022 at the Clyde Kitchen in Skelmorlie by the Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire, with 58 family, friends and neighbours there to mark it.

I've waited since October 2020, but it was well worth it.

Willie is publicly Willie Brown BEM these days. He insists, every time, that the medal belongs to the team:

All I do is deliver milk. It is the team who deserve the plaudits. We are just a small link in the chain and we couldn't operate without the help of our suppliers.

Four generations of milk in Largs

W & J Brown was founded in November 1970 by William and Janet Brown — the W and the J. Willie's grandfather, William Crawford, ran milk deliveries in Largs before that, so the family has been getting up before dawn in this part of Ayrshire for the best part of a hundred years.

Willie has been involved with the round since he was ten. He took over from his parents some years ago and runs it today with his wife Marjory. Their son Liam is on the round; their son Nairn runs the technical side; their daughter Carys helps with the office work.

I have been washing milk bottles since I was ten and that was when I started working for the business. Little did I think 50 years on I would receive such an honour for just doing my job.

What it takes

The round runs seven days a week in Largs and Fairlie, three days a week in Millport, Skelmorlie, Wemyss Bay and Inverkip, and twice a week in West Kilbride. Bread and rolls need 48 hours notice. Order changes go to Willie's mobile by 5pm for the next day.

Beyond the everyday round, two moments stand out. The 2017 Beast from the East — Willie and the team set 2.30am alarms and walked the round on foot to the worst-hit areas where the vans couldn't get through. And, of course, the first lockdown of 2020 — when the round expanded to milk, newspapers, and groceries, with new online ordering set up in a hurry, just so vulnerable customers could keep eating.

Looking after the place

The round runs from Nether Whittlieburn Farm in Brisbane Glen. Some years back the family planted 42,000 trees on the farm under a UK government scheme. Two of the delivery vans are now electric. About three quarters of customer invoices are emailed rather than printed. And glass bottles — reusable, recyclable, washed and refilled — remain the primary container.

We make sure we turn every corner in trying to look after the planet and deliver glass bottles which are recyclable and reusable as well.

The community side

In 2024, marking their 30th wedding anniversary, Willie and Marjory donated a £1,000 defibrillator to the community, mounted on the farm wall facing the road in Brisbane Glen. McManus Electrical did the install free of charge. It's registered with the ambulance service and brought the local total of public defibrillators to 23.

We thought, instead of hosting a party, why don't we put the money towards a defibrillator instead?

Willie has fundraised for the Largs Boys' Brigade for years. Local businesses — Café Renard, the CalMac office, Nardini's at the Moorings — have all been part of the round in one way or another for years. Claudio Nardini summed up local feeling at the BEM announcement:

Not all heroes wear capes, some drive milk floats! Congratulations Willie Brown.

Still here, still delivering

The round is bigger than it was in 1970. The fleet is electric and fewer of the bottles get broken. The phone is the same one Willie's been answering for years. Customers still get a hand-written note when something changes. And Willie, who started by washing bottles aged ten, is still up at 4am most days.

If you live in the round and you'd like to join: get in touch. No order is too small.

This page draws on press coverage by Calum Corral (Largs and Millport News, Greenock Telegraph) and Ayrshire Today, with quotes from the Brown family.