A town like Alloa , denuded of its yarn and paper mills and all but one of its nine breweries, surely has reason to thank its family businesses like Marshall Construction.

Though once major customers like Ind Coope, Patons and Inveresk have disappeared, Marshall continues to provide much-needed work and apprenticeships and after toughing out the recession has grown its turnover by more than 50 per cent this year.

It is led by managing director Robert Marshall, 51, whose twin brother John runs the successful building supplies empire Beatson's, which sits next door.

Their father John Marshall OBE, 78, has no thought of retiring though he plays little active part now in the construction business he formed 31 years ago after a family business split with his own brother.

Robert says: "He comes in every day at 8.30 and goes at 5. He has got to come in to his work every day."

Might he himself be the same one day? "I think so."

Robert Marshall grew up in the industry, serving an apprenticeship as a plasterer, and says: "I am very hands-on. When I walk onto a site I know within 15 minutes whether that site is going right or wrong."

He hates management by computer. "They are so soulless and impersonal. It is still about chapping on doors, people do business with people."

But he is passionate about training. "Being a local contractor and employer I think you have always got to put something back into the community, and that is taking guys off the street and giving them an apprenticeship."

The MD goes on: "I left school with no O levels, I am not proud of that, but I came in here and started learning about finance, accounts, surveying, systems - although school didn't interest me the running of the business interested me enormously, and I was a bit like a sponge."

When he started, Marshall was carrying out civil engineering works for the likes of Henry Boot and Barratt, and thriving on high-end maintenance work for Alloa's traditional knitters, brewers and manufacturers. "We prided ourselves especially in the early days on our service - our office was open from six in the morning."

General building work (with Diageo still a customer after 25 years) still accounts for around a quarter of the business or £12m of turnover, while scaffolding and roofing divisions now pitch in another £3m, but construction value in private and public sectors has grown to around £38m this year.

Being debt-free and self-financing meant that when the downturn hit, "we only needed to break even to survive", Mr Marshall says.

"We had to let one or two guys go, which we took very personally - we are a family business, I started as a plasterer and there are still guys here who worked with us when I was on the tools. But we have managed to retain the thick end of the workforce, and at times we may have taken on jobs that sensibly weren't for us."

He continues: "Some people were advising me to close contracts because the margins weren't there, but I am not defeatist, and with the help of the management and the workforce we managed to turn it back round."

A new division Marshall Homes was intended to boost profitability, but was launched just before the downturn, and part of its first site in Alloa has had to be re-configured for more affordable units. "We are actively looking at other sites at the moment," Mr Marshall says.

This year Marshall has won four contracts in quick succession to build stores for Home Bargains/TJ Morris in Kilsyth, Larkhall and Falkirk and Fraserburgh. It has put up another £2.2m bonded warehouse for Chivas at Beith, with another £5.8m phase to follow, adding to eight previous warehouses on the site.

It will next year build Alyth Primary School in an £8m contract and has won £1m-plus contracts for housing associations in Stirling and Edinburgh and for Clackmannanshire Council in Alloa itself.

Mr Marshall says: "In the old days you just used to have relationships with architects, surveyors and engineers and were automatically installed on a list of their contractors to price jobs. These days we have PQQ and PCS (public tendering) and you can have anywhere up to 18 or 20 companies chasing the same job....we get our fair share of the work."

He adds: "The new tendering system makes you more assertive to get out there and secure other contracts, we were maybe in our comfort zone in the past working in areas were comfortable with. I would say it has been a positive for the business."

Marshall is now looking to pitch for work in Inverness and even South of the Border, the boss says, as it powers back from the recession with turnover expected to touch £50m this year, after sliding to £32m by 2013. Profit however is likely to still be some 20 per cent below the 2013 level at £350,000. Interestingly the firm's traditional competition in its local market has not changed, all three of its main rivals still thriving. "I am glad they are still there, it's better that way," Mr Marshall says.

Asked whether more could be done to boost apprenticeships, the MD says the industry's training board could maybe do a bit more but goes on: "We have got to create the work to create the apprenticeships, that is the message we have got to try to get over."

Mr Marshall hopes eventually to hand the business on to daughter Elaine, 27, who runs the plant division.

As to his father, always available in his office nearby, Mr Marshall says: "You can talk to him about an issue in the business. The fundamentals are exactly the same."

On the road ahead, he says: "Clearly economic conditions have improved enormously and whilst we are still operating in a challenging and very competitive sector, we know we have an extremely solid client list and the best people with us."