The origins of the company trace to the 1920s,[4] when Donald Malcolm left school in his early teenage years and started running his family's small coal business.

[6] Donald Malcolm died in 2003; two of his sons Walter and Andrew took over management of the business.

In 2005 the company was taken back into private ownership by the Malcolm family and the Bank of Scotland plc.

[7] The group provides warehousing at locations in Scotland, and northern and central England, primary and secondary road distribution,[8] and train services in association with Freightliner,[9] as well as managing the rail terminals at Grangemouth, Linwood (Elderslie) and Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal.

[11] The company's construction division undertakes civil engineering work including excavation and construction of earthworks, roadwork and groundwork, waste recycling, quarrying,[12] and sports pitch surfacing in association with Newark based subsidiary companies Charles Lawrence Surfaces Ltd and Woodholme Construction.