Having recognised this gap in the market Andrew and David set out to supply house builders in the central belt of Scotland. They had a product that was desirable to the client base they intended to sell to and had secured a small warehouse in East Kilbride to run their new venture. 

Things moved quickly and they worked very hard with Andrew selling to the builders and David running the warehouse and deliveries, it was a great time working together with long hours and hard work. 

As time went by and the company expanded the product line, they were getting more and more clients wanting their services. Another warehouse was required and another staff member came on board. Scott Black (now the company’s managing director) joined the team.

Things went from strength to strength and eventually in 2008 Universal Interiors decided to buy their next premises which had offices a showroom and warehouse facility still within East Kilbride, it was a big commitment but one that allowed them to grow yet again and employ more staff and start building a team around them, many of whom are still with the business to this day. 

The house building industry had changed and installation was now a necessity so Universal Interiors started recruiting their own installation teams to ensure they were at the top of the house builders list when it came to design, supply and installation of what was now a vast offering of top-quality wardrobes.

Unfortunately, not long after the move to the new premises, the worldwide crash was upon them and no industry suffered as much as the housebuilding industry.

Never scared of a challenge or adapting the team at Universal saw that as housebuilding was declining quickly they saw that home improvements were becoming increasingly popular as opposed to moving home. It was at this point they decided to supply and install directly to the homeowner, investment was made into sales and design teams and lead generation. 

It was a competitive market and not an easy one, however, the tenacity to succeed drove them forward and saw them through the hardest times the company had ever seen.

Sadly, through this period Andrew passed away leaving David and Scott with a strong foundation to build on and the opportunity to do him proud by continuing the success that had permeated from him.

When the recession was over Universal set about their business now on two fronts the house builder market and the now-established homeowner market. 

The years that followed were exciting and once again the company began to grow. It was time to move yet again.

This time, David was seeking to have a permanent base and wanted to remain within East Kilbride as it had always been the place that had allowed the company to flourish. An amazing opportunity came to him in 2017 when he purchased an empty industrial unit that could be designed by the team at Universal to shape it exactly to their requirements, the warehouse opened in 2018 and a brand new, shiny showroom and office space was completed the following year.

It is now five years on and 25 years seems like nothing, although despite David’s best intentions another warehouse has been required and there are now two separate manufacturing facilities one for glass products and one for wood, it is beyond their wildest dreams from 500 square feet of warehouse with a fax machine and a will to succeed to 16,000 square feet and a loyal and dedicated staff of wonderful people it’s been quite a journey.

David hopes it would have made his dad extremely proud.

He added: “I would like to point out that there are many (too many to mention) people that have contributed to the journey and success of Universal Interiors but the team today that at its core has attention to detail, customer satisfaction, quality products and dedication to providing the best service possible to all our clients are the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”