In this week's SME Focus we hear from a roofing business that is thriving after facing challenges amid the recession, which took a heavy toll on building activity.

Name: William O Braisby. The 'O' is important as I'm the third William Braisby in the family business following in the footsteps of my grandfather William 'H' and father William 'A'. At one time, we were all working in the business at the same time.

Age: 29

Position: Managing Director. I have responsibility for co-ordinating the construction and commercial aspects of the business, new tendering opportunities and health and safety. I have to ensure every box is ticked.

What is your business called?

Braisby Roofing Limited

Where is it based?

Dunfermline. We cover the whole of Scotland.

What services does it offer?

We are Roofing & External Render contractors. We provide both pitched and flat roofing solutions, as well as specialist external finishes for homes (rendering) and external wall insulation solutions.

Who does it sell to?

We work for most of Scotland's leading house builders, private building contractors, local authorities, registered social landlords, housing associations and domestic homeowners. We have just won major projects with Abertay Housing Association, Aberdeen City Council, Fife Council and West Lothian Council. These works alone amount to approximately 25% of our target 2013 turnover of £5 million.

What is its turnover?

£4.5m.

How many employees?

We permanently employ over 70 staff members which includes our apprentices, tradespeople, supervisors, managers and administration personnel.

When was it formed?

We were established in 1965 by my grandfather, a roof slater to trade. He was inundated with requests to fix people's roofs, so decided to set up on his own.

Why did you take the plunge?

There was never any doubt that I would be a part of our family business – from an early age I always had ambitions to join the company. Every school holiday and every day off meant getting involved in the business and I didn't know – or consider – anything else, even when working on cold, wet days.

Since officially becoming employed as an apprentice, aged 16, I've done just about every job in the company. This allowed me to develop my expertise in the industry prior to being appointed Managing Director in July 2012.

How did you raise the start-up funding?

50 years ago, the company grew organically. Today, as a business we are careful to live within our means. We have been with the same bank, The Bank of Scotland, for more than 30 years and so have a strong relationship with them. This year we have purchased nine new vehicles through their commercial lending division, allowing us to further grow and enhance our business.

What was your biggest break?

As a business approximately eight years ago we identified a key opportunity to establish and integrate an external rendering division, following a number of inquiries from our existing client base. This division now provides 25-30% of our yearly turnover.

What was your worst moment?

The recession which affected the whole country severely impacted our business in 2009.

We had to implement significant changes, make redundancies and reduce our overheads due to the fall in our turnover specifically from the private housing market.

The most significant change we made was to focus on the local authority market and for that we had to become more competitive in our pricing.

This period was the most testing that I have faced, however, I used the experience to create a more efficient and profitable business model.

Our last two financial years have yielded our most profitable figures for over a decade. 2013 should see our turnover exceed 2008 levels and headcount is also greater now than it was pre-recession.

I would never say that the recession was a blessing in disguise, but it did make us focus on our strengths and take a hard look at how we ran the business.

What do you most enjoy about running the business?

There is always the satisfaction of winning new business and delivering profitable figures.

But over and above that, the business gives us the means to offer other people opportunities – particularly young people looking for skills and a trade.

Youth employment is a focus of our business. Ensuring you have a generation of keen, able and motivated individuals should be at the heart of every organisation.

Currently, around one third of our workforce is under 24 and we have partnered (double glazing entrepreneur) Gerard Eadie's Hand Picked programme, which gives young people a three month paid job as a springboard to other employment. To date we have taken on four hand-picked candidates; one we have taken on permanently with the remaining three doing well.

What do you least enjoy?

The withholding of retention monies from construction contracts, other than this I still enjoy all aspects of my current position.

What are your ambitions for the firm?

To keep growing the business.

Over the past two years we have delivered year-on-year increases in turnover and profits and I'd like to see that progression continue.

What are your top priorities?

To maintain the success of the last two years and further grow and develop the business, the focus is on winning more work within Scotland however we do have ambitions to develop the business within the northern regions of England.

Whatever the future holds I want to ensure family values remain at the forefront of everything our company does.

What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?

This is easy. Remove retention from construction contracts. Retention is the percentage payment held back by the project owners or main contractors and which then impacts on all the subsidiary contracts through the supply chain.

This system belongs to the dark ages. Although there, in principle, to protect the client, in practice these final payments can be held back for anything up to two years, causing severe cash flow problems for businesses, especially at a time when margins are already incredibly tight.

The Scottish Government has a responsibility to see this practice is stamped out and is changing its own working practices.

Local authorities, for instance, don't hold retentions. Contracts can be written to ensure the client has protection, without the need for the system of retention which has an unfair impact on particularly small businesses.

What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?

Always to be truthful when an issue arises and to face any problem head on.

How do you relax?

Watching my local team Dunfermline Athletic play and playing golf at Dunfermline golf club.