Businessman and assiduous promoter of tartan
Born.7 March 1927
Died 28 April 2015
Blair Macnaughton, who has died in Pitlochry aged 88, was for many years managing director of Macnaughton Holdings the international maker of tartan and tweed.
He guided the firm through many challenging years and thanks to his imaginative marketing skills and prudent management he made the company one of the largest private companies in Scotland.
He preserved the company's fine tradition - it was founded in 1783 in Aberfeldy - and holds a special place in the industrial life of Scotland representing the very best traditions of Scottish enterprise and commercial initiative.
Mr Macnaughton was the seventh generation to be in charge of the firm and introduced far-reaching schemes of modernisation. He was an expert and canny salesman - creating and nurturing markets in Europe and the Far East. Mr. Macnaughton also made important contacts in America and the company's products were seen in such New York stores Bloomingdales, Maceys and Sachs.
Mr Macnaughton was a proud Scot and played an active role in the clan Macnaughton and was instrumental in promoting the Scottish Tartans Authority. Brian Wilton, STA's Consultant Director told The Herald yesterday, "Without Blair's foresight, enthusiasm and drive, the STA would never have existed. His enthusiasm and single-mindedness resulted in the formation of an organisation that has brought together under one harmonious roof, the major companies in the Scottish tartan industry and the world's leading tartan academics and historians.
"It was Blair's all-consuming passion that a national Tartan Centre should be established and it is a very fitting tribute that in the last weeks of his life, that dream took its first government-sponsored steps towards reality."
Blair Charles Macnaughton attended Croftonloan prep school, the Edinburgh Academy and Glenalmond College. At the latter he was a prominent sportsman, captain of the 1st XV, Victor Ludorum and a prefect. He then trained as a physical training instructor with the Marine Commandos.
He played rugby for the Marines in their annual match against the Navy and for Exeter Rugby Club. Recently, Macnaughton Holdings was awarded the contract to supply kilts to the Marine Commandos - an order that would have given Mr. Macnaughton a particular pleasure.
Mr Macnaughton was demobbed in 1947 and attended the Scottish Woollen College in Galashiels where he met his future wife Elsie Davidson. He played for Gala and returned every year for the Melrose Sevens.
In the early 1950s Macnaughton returned to Pitlochry to, in time, succeed his father. He had to stabilise the finances and cope with the gruelling problems that industry faced in the Fifties. He brought to the firm an energy and drive that spearheaded its improvement as it became one of the largest woollen manufacturers in Scotland. His enterprising and entrepreneurial zeal ensured the expansion of the tartan business at the House of Edgar in Aberdeen and the business continued to expand and prosper.
Mr Macnaughton retired in 1992 but remained a consultant for a few years.
From school and his time in the Marines Mr Macnaughton was a keen sportsman. He was a passionate curler and his enthusiasm for the sport spread far beyond Scotland. He was a long-standing member of the Pitlochry Curling Club and co-founded the Heart of the Highlands. He was secretary to the Atholl Province for 30 years, attended numerous Silver Brooms around the world and was a participant in every Grand Match since the war.
He was a staunch member of the Pitlochry Rotary Club for over fifty years and awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship Medal. Mr Macnaughton was also chairman of the Abbeyfield Atholl Society and President of the Pitlochry Bowling Club.
His name was placed on the Roll of Honour of the Macnaughton clan and he acted as an enthusiastic host at the 2009 Gathering in Holyrood Park. His son Blair, now running the firm recalls, "Dad's enthusiasm saw no bounds. His welcome included organising a tour of Macnaughton country from Perthshire to Argyll. The bus was full of laughter and dad was in his element repeating family and clan yarns."
Mr Macnaughton was a man of many parts and passions. In the Sixties, on a business trip, he was spotted, resplendent in kilt, in Copenhagen by an advertising agency. Mr Macnaughton was offered a contract to become the face for Danish marmalade: to his quiet delight he was once stopped by a Dane in Moscow who recognised him.
Mr Macnaughton married in 1949. His wife, Elsie and a daughter died last year. He is survived by their two sons and a daughter.
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