Summary
¦ Scotts of Thrapston was established in 1920 by David Scott’s grandfather.
¦ Its product range includes summerhouses, stables, joinery and roof trusses.
¦ The company is a long-term sponsor of the Burghley Horse Trials and this year also sponsored the Carlton trials.
¦ David Scott is on the North Northamptonshire Development Company’s board and a judge in a local Dragons’ Den.

David Scott considers himself the luckiest man in the world.

As chairman of Scotts of Thrapston he loves his job and at 65 he shows no enthusiasm for retirement – in fact, the opposite is true. “When I wake up in the morning I can’t wait to get down to work because I enjoy it so much. I have never not wanted to go to work,” he said.

That’s an enviable sentiment from someone who has spent more than 40 years in the family firm but typical of a man who seems to have a zest for life – and business.

Scotts, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, was established in the Northamptonshire town of Thrapston by David Scott’s grandfather. A cabinet maker by trade, he set up the business after returning from an unsuccessful attempt to make his fortune in the Canadian gold rush.

When David Scott’s father took over he expanded production from wheelbarrows and ladders to include dog kennels, and broiler and battery houses for the poultry industry.

Early years

David Scott worked for his father for several years. “I was in the factory, driving lorries, carrying a piece of wood up and down the factory to try and look busy,” he said with characteristic humour.

When the business faced “a bit of a blip” David Scott persuaded his father to give him shares in the business. “That’s when I realised how much trouble the company was in. We had a yard full of timber but no cash,” he said.

Despite his self-effacing manner, the modern company owes its success to David Scott’s business acumen. He has developed its product range from smaller items to roof trusses and top-end joinery, stables and summerhouses.

The latter, made from pressure-treated redwood, include the option for a rotating base on octagonal designs and all can be supplied with upholstery.

“In the garden sector we create the dream,” said Mr Scott.

The buildings division within the company also designs and builds garages and outbuildings, cricket pavilions and stables.

Early on Mr Scott recognised the opportunities in the equestrian market. “It’s very much a British sport and British blood stock and everything connected with the equine industry is respected around the world,” he said, adding that Scotts is among the top three of around 30 timber stable producers in the UK.

It’s a sector that held up well during the recession, and the export market is successful too. Scotts has an agent in Spain and has recently secured a contract in Denmark.

Dynamic diversification

It was the stables that, in 1976, led Scotts into the more utilitarian sector of roof trusses, now the largest part of its business.

“We were using an awful lot of roof trusses in the stables and were buying them in. We decided to start making them in a small way but we rapidly realised there was an opportunity and now we’re one of the main manufacturers in the Midlands,” said Mr Scott.

The division also produces oak trusses and, he added, because its customer base is small to medium-sized housebuilders, it has remained reasonably busy during the downturn.

Engineered floors were a natural progression from trusses and, as a Wolf Systems fabricator, Scotts manufactures metal web easi-joists.

The joinery side of the business, established in 1972, produces bespoke sash and casement windows, doors, fire doors and joinery, using PEFC-certified timber.

“We have a lot of highly-skilled carpenters who have done some pretty amazing jobs,” said Mr Scott.

One of which he is particularly proud is the interdenominational City Church in Milton Keynes where Scotts supplied all the joinery in English oak.

“You get very emotional when you think you’ve been instrumental in doing this, in being part of a national monument,” he said.

Product diversity

Scotts has a wide product range but Mr Scott believes it is this diversity that is the secret of the company’s success. “If one is having a bad month another is having a good month and although the businesses are in different sectors, they all use the same expertise and adhere to the same high quality standards.

“In these modern times people with plenty of variety in their businesses have done very well,” said Mr Scott. “It’s people who have specialised who have seen their market disappear from under their feet.”

Scotts may well expand into other products but for the moment development ideas are focused on moving from the six-acre site it has occupied for around 40 years to a new purpose-built factory. The plans are still in their infancy and Mr Scott will not divulge the location but he is clearly excited about the opportunities the move will create.

“We’re a traditional business and it works for us but, as with most companies, we could get more efficient. We have to grab the opportunity to keep continually investing in new technology,” he said.

Marketing opportunities

When it comes to marketing the company is on top of the game. “We don’t miss an opportunity,” said Mr Scott, praising the work of the marketing department, led by its manager Julia Berrie.

Three years ago Scotts became a National Trust licensee, developing two summerhouse designs – the Virginia Woolf-inspired Reading Room, and the Writer’s Retreat, taken from George Bernard Shaw’s converted shed – which carry the organisation’s name. It is now working on new products for the range.

“This dual branding is a powerful tool for a small company,” said Mr Scott.

As well as advertising in specialist magazines and working with the Royal Horticultural Society, Scotts is a regular exhibitor at the Chelsea and Hampton Court flower shows, where the summerhouses are put in a landscaped setting, and the Badminton and Burghley horse trials. It has exhibited at Chelsea for around 40 years, and at Burghley for the past 35 years.

Mr Scott thoroughly enjoys the shows because of the direct contact with customers. “People come onto our stands and say ‘I bought something from you 40 years ago’ and it is very satisfying.

“Every customer we have is an ambassador. They’re our sales people,” he said, adding that the company doesn’t employ sales staff, preferring to rely on the power of personal recommendation and advertising.

Scotts has sponsored the Brigstock International Horse Trials for the past four years and this year was the title sponsor for Carlton Horse Trials, held last month. As part of a rider development programme it has also sponsored two amateur riders, who competed at Carlton, and who have been charting their progress through blogs on Scotts’ website.

“We wanted to do something a bit different and give something back to the grass roots of the eques-trian world,” said Mr Scott.

Other interests

Away from the Thrapston factory, Mr Scott finds time to give something back to the community too. He has just completed 10 years on the local authority, latterly as chairman, and is now on the board of the North Northamptonshire Development Company. But perhaps what he enjoys most away from business, although you could say it’s a busman’s holiday, is the local Dragons’ Den which involves students from 12 schools pitching their business ideas. As one of four judges, Mr Scott recognises enterprise and has even helped some pupils on their career path.

“It’s one of the most pleasurable things I’ve done,” he said.

While David Scott continues at the helm of the business, the fourth generation of the family – his son James – joined the company in 2000. Now a director, he is involved in the buildings division.

“With the management team and James it will be a good model for the future,” said David Scott, quickly adding, “but that’s not a signal for my retirement.”