Magic bus
JOHN Watson, the veteran Glasgow entrepreneur, had his audience at The Glasgow Academy rapt as he recalled the highlights of his successful printing career in an Entrepreneurial Scotland lecture last week.
Mr Watson, who sold John Watson & Co to America’s Multi-Color Corporation in 2014, reminisced about the occasion he returned from a trip to the US with an idea to “paint” advertising on the sides of Glasgow buses. After initially being quoted a price of £10,000 to emblazon his logo on both sides of the bus, he negotiated a price of £3,000 with the then Corporation bus company – for the back.
“They thought I was off my trolley!” he said.

Going underground
STILL with John Watson, the businessman revealed his Glasgow premises were not fully equipped to take delivery of one of its biggest printers. “When Watson bought a giant Heidelberg printer from Germany we were told to install 6.5 tonnes of concrete [in the floor] because three Heidelberg printers had gone through the floor [at other businesses],” he said.
The solution? Mr Watson convinced his team they could put in the concrete themselves. “We did it ourselves and saved £100,000,” he said.
The project was not without its danger though: Mr Watson says they could hear the rumble of the Glasgow Subway trains as the pit they were digging became deeper.