Growing Scott Timber

From Sharon Ward, writing for the June 22, 2005, Scotsman, comes this story of a young man who took on a big challenge at age 18:

...Since he became managing director in 1990 at the age of 18, [John] Scott, 34, has transformed his family's sawmill business. A turnover of £96,000 and a trading loss in 1987 has been converted into more than £47 million in sales, while the workforce has increased from four to more than 500.

[snip]

His father, James, an estate agent, and mother Chris, a nurse, bought their new home in Gargunnock, near Stirling, in 1987, with an old sawmill attached. As a hobby, John's father would tinker with the mill and he spent school holidays working on the site making fences.

"After school, I began working full-time until I could decide what I wanted to do," said Scott.

"We weren't making any money, the company had turnover of only £100,000 and was trading poorly.

"Unfortunately, my dad fell ill and within three years he had died so I was left on my own.

"The first year was tough because we had a particularly bad winter and no-one was buying fences. We decided to move onto making pallets because this was a year round business."

The gamble paid off and Scott was able to persuade BP in Grangemouth to sign a deal for 500,000 pallets a year.

"Giving us that chance put us on the map," he said.

"It was just over 25 per cent of our business and doubled our turnover.

"Alongside three of my school pals, we worked seven days a week for a year. BP opened doors for us and we haven't looked back."

[snip]

Full article (Headline: Scott Timber reveals plans for further expansion into Europe)