From 1970 the business took off like a fizzing rocket. Norman Grant designs were more and more sought after. The bank balancewas well in the black and Norman was finally able to believe that he was making a living from doing what he loved, like William Hall of Bute who was the only Scottish art graduate who had a full-time career in modern jewellery production at the time.

 

Orders were pouring in at such a rate that Norman had to employ more staff and, luckily, Don Beaton, a brilliant smith himself, was able to train new smiths while Norman concentrated on a trainee enameler. Because every single process was done by hand and there was little or no equipment to speed things up, dealing with a huge order book was a hectic struggle.

 

For example, finishing or polishing was carried out by someone holding every piece, coated in a paste, to an electric mop-buff, and then the pieces were scrubbed by a soft brush in a basin full of liquid metal polish. These then had to be washed in warm, soapy water, dried and polished with a soft cloth. It was the dirtiest and slowest job in the workshop and Jess and Don were often to be found around midnight or 1a.m. with their hands in that basin when an order had to be ready for delivery the next morning!

 

For years, all the employees were working as much overtime as they could anyway and there were times when they couldn’t be asked to do more.