Historic Kiltmaker Turns To AI To Secure Its Future

A Paisley kiltmaker whose outfits have dressed royalty, been hung in the White House and travelled to space is harnessing AI to secure the family business for future generations, after its fourth-generation leader completed the Help to Grow: Management Course at the University of West Scotland (UWS).

Houston Kiltmakers was founded in 1909 and has built a customer list that reads like few others. It has made kilts for the royals, presidents, A listers, clans and families all round the world. The business even holds a thread of tartan that’s been to space, carried there by Apollo 12 astronaut Commander Alan Bean.

The Kiltmakers is now run by fourth-generation family member Ewan MacDonald. When he took over the business, its orders, hire records and the details of tens of thousands of customers were held entirely on paper as they always had been. This created a bottleneck that capped how many bespoke outfits and kilt hires the 14-strong team could handle.

To help pinpoint the changes that were needed to modernise and scale the 117-year-old business, Ewan completed the Help to Grow: Management Course at the University of the West of Scotland. The 12-week, 90% government-funded business leadership course equipped him with the knowledge and expertise to put those plans into action.

Ewan MacDonald, director at Houston Kiltmakers, commented: “We knew we had to digitise, but we didn’t know how to go about it; so at the start of 2024 I enrolled on the Help to Grow: Management Course at the University of the West of Scotland on the advice of Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce."

“The course was fantastic for giving me the ideas, tools and contacts I needed. The module on digital adoption opened my eyes to see how we could put new technology to work to resolve the issues we were having with our systems and position us for future success. It was so inspiring that I then did a follow-on course on AI and future technologies, which introduced me to the university’s KTP scheme.”

Houston Kiltmakers has now embarked on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with the UWS School of Business & Creative Industries, embedding a full-time digital transformation specialist in the business for up to three years.

The results are transforming the operational side of the business while leaving its handmade craft untouched.

KTP Associate Benjamin Chang, Houston's Digital Transformation Manager, has worked with the business to build an AI model that reads decades of handwritten order forms and converts them into a searchable database - turning a 15-minute hunt through the archive into a search that takes seconds. The business’s kilt hire operation is being fully digitised, and a prototype ‘AI mirror’ is in development which will let customers anywhere in the world see themselves in a full Highland outfit before ordering.

Flora Hamilton, Executive Director of the Small Business Charter which delivers the Help to Grow: Management Course, adds: "Houston Kiltmakers is an extraordinary business with more than a century of heritage, with every kilt handmade and tailored by craftsmen and women to last a lifetime. Its story has been built on this commitment to quality and its first-class personal service. Ewan came to the course knowing they needed to adopt new technologies to set the foundations for future success. The Help to Grow: Management Course gave him the knowledge, tools and confidence to lead that change."

"It also connected him to the wider expertise of his host university. That's the power of delivering the course through our network of 60+ Small Business Charter accredited business schools. The relationship doesn't end after 12 weeks; as Houston Kiltmakers’ KTP with the University of the West of Scotland shows, it can open doors business owners didn't know existed. Seeing a fourth-generation family business use AI to protect its craft for the generations to come is exactly the kind of impact we're proud to support."

The Help to Grow: Management Course is a 90% government-funded leadership programme for SME businesses, delivered by a network of Small Business Charter accredited business schools. The course runs over 12 weeks and includes online and face-to-face sessions, 10 hours of 1-to-1 mentoring and peer networking. Its mission is to increase economic growth and productivity through improved management and leadership practice.

To find out more about Houston Kiltmakers, visit: kiltmakers.com