William Smillie, joint managing director of Borders-based BE Uniforms, highlights his growth ambitions for the firm, and the challenges of being the second generation in the family business.

He is a strong believer in the importance of school uniforms, declaring: “It is a social leveller, bridging the gap between those who can afford designer clothing and those who don’t have much money to spend on clothes. There is no coincidence that schools with a strong uniform policy perform better than those that don’t.”

What is your business called?

BE Uniforms Where is it based?

Greenlaw in the Scottish Borders, and we have seven sales hubs across Scotland and the north of England What does it produce/do?

We are a workwear, schoolwear and teamwear provider specialising in embroidery and print.

To whom does it sell?

Businesses, schools, universities, clubs.

What is its turnover?

£9 million How many employees?

Around 130 permanent but increasing to around 200 in our busy summer period.

What attracted you to your current role?

We are a family business, so I was somewhat born into my role. My Dad started the business in 1989 and in 2021 took a step back to allow my brother and I to take the reins as joint MDs.

What were you doing before?

I have worked throughout the business from warehouse, design, embroidery, production manager, retail, sales, operations manager to now MD.

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What do you least enjoy?

I don’t really like anything to do with spreadsheets and data-entering. Luckily, I don’t have to do it much in my role.

What do you consider to be the main successes of the business?

Arguably our biggest success has been in school uniform as we are probably market leader in Scotland. In more recent years, our workwear and teamwear have seen some........

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