26 BUSINESS WOMEN SCOTLAND profiles
Family Business
Keira Proctor spends her days in the Victorian house that’s been in her family
for generations, sitting at the desk that used to be her grandfather’s, with her dog
Dougal at her feet. And it’s from there, now converted to a fully functioning office
which houses over half of the company’s 130 staff that she runs her award-winning
and rapidly growing family business, looking to expand into new markets all over
the world.
T
he A. Proctor Group began life
manufacturing textiles and supplying
flax to Scotland’s mills. Now, four
generations later, it is a specialist
manufacturer and supplier of innovative
breathable membranes and vapour
control layers to the construction
industry. They also supply specialist insulation products
into oil and gas, rail and automotive industries.
Much of the success and expansion of the past few
years has been driven by exporting. Keira said: “What we
find works extremely well is to focus in on one particular
country or market and make sure that we understand the
local regulations - the local requirements.
“And once we understand that and what the customers
want, that’s when we start to see success. We have
customers in 19 countries and we have actually supplied
projects in 22 in 2015 alone.
“Probably one of the most challenging things is
actually finding the decision makers in these markets
and what Scottish Enterprise has done is put us in touch
with people who know people.”
Getting to know decision makers and finding out,
through them, what the market wants has been the key
to the company’s international growth. Once the need
is identified, by listening to customers – and to staff that
deal with customers - innovation is often necessary to
create a product that meets the need.
Under Keira’s direction, A. Proctor Group has evolved its
products to meet demand in new markets. The company is
committed to this process through extensive research and
development at their headquarters in scenic Perthshire.
Based in Blairgowrie may seem, on the face of it,