One of Scotland’s leading businesspeople and entrepreneurs has revealed some of the secrets to his phenomenal success.
Speaking exclusively on the Go Radio Business Show, John Watson OBE, admitted: “We had a very dangerous policy where we used to say: ‘The answer is yes. So what’s the question?’
“There have been many times I’ve said, yes, we can deliver a million of those for next week and I didn’t know how it was to happen.
“But we always made it happen. There was lots of pain there at times but that’s what absolutely makes your business.”
As former chairman and chief executive of the printing dynasty John Watson and Company, John spent more than 50 years at the helm of the iconic business, and Sir Tom Hunter explained: “One thing that really impressed me about your business was the concept of family and team. Just tell the listeners a bit about getting that team together because a lot of people in Scotland are in family businesses.”
“Well, we certainly were a family business,” said John, “but we also went out and found great technical guys and girls, professionals who were very clever at what they did . . . and these people were starting to embrace the new technology.
“Obviously, when I started in printing letterpress was the process. This moved on to offset litho.
“Then you, Tom, very kindly cut the ribbon to open our new £2.1 million printing press that was 100 yards long, with walkie-talkies at either end and nine units on it.
“We were doing something they said could never be done. But these were the challenges I liked. I know you gentlemen like them as well.
“They said: ‘No, I don’t think you can do this.’
And, as you would have witnessed that day, we printed the very first Chivas Regal whisky labels in Scotland.
“We approached Heildelberg in Germany.
“We spent a lot of time there and designed between them and ourselves the longest, most advanced printing press in the world.
“That press did not go to New York or Geneva or Australia . . . it went to Glasgow’s Townhead.”
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