Case Study - Balhousie Glazing Limited

Monday 17 August 2026

Started by a glazier and a joiner in 1993, owned by its staff since 2018

Balhousie Glazing was founded in Perth in 1993 by two local tradesmen: Malcolm Sweeney, an experienced glazier, and Drew Hay, a time served joiner. The idea they started with was not complicated. Give homeowners good products, proper craftsmanship and straight dealing, and the work will follow. Thirty three years later the company employs nineteen people and the idea has not been revised.

The early work was glazing windows and doors for a national housebuilder, with replacement window jobs for homeowners alongside it. Word travelled, the private side grew, and the team grew with it.

Today there are two sites, both in Perth. The trade counter and supply only premises sit on the Inveralmond Industrial Estate, while the showroom and head office are on Feus Road, where customers can see the range before committing to what is, for most households, a serious amount of money.

Everybody who works there owns a piece of it

The turning point in the company's history was not a contract or a new site. In 2018 Balhousie Glazing became employee owned through an Employee Ownership Trust, which means the people fitting the windows have a stake in the business fitting them.

It changes the incentives in a way that is easy to state and hard to fake. “Every member of our team now has a shared interest in the company's success,” says James Gaft, the company's marketing manager, “creating a culture where everyone takes genuine pride in delivering exceptional workmanship and customer service.”

He is direct about what that is for. As an employee owned business, he says, “every member of our team has a personal investment in protecting the reputation we've spent more than three decades building”.

Why a national Trading Standards listing

The SCOTSS Approved Trader portal is run on behalf of the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland. It is a national directory rather than a single council's list, it brings together Trading Standards vetted traders from schemes across the country, and it is supported by Police Scotland.

For a company selling a purchase most people make once or twice in a lifetime, that independence was the attraction. “We wanted to align ourselves with an organisation that shares our values of honesty, quality and consumer protection,” James says. “Replacing windows and doors is a significant investment, and we understand that homeowners want reassurance they are choosing a company they can trust.”

Thorough where it counts, proportionate everywhere else

Vetting is where enthusiasm for accreditation usually meets reality. Balhousie found the balance about right. “It was thorough enough to give us confidence that businesses accepted onto the scheme have genuinely demonstrated high standards, while remaining straightforward and proportionate for reputable companies,” James says.

What he valued was where the scrutiny was aimed. As a long established business, he says, they appreciated that the checks focused on “trading history, customer satisfaction and business practices, rather than creating unnecessary bureaucracy”.

“Being accredited by Trading Standards helps reinforce the trust we've spent more than three decades building.”

Recognition from more than one direction

The accreditation sits alongside a run of independent recognition. The company became a Which? Trusted Trader in 2023 and was named Which? Trusted Trader of the Month twice inside thirteen months, an award a business can only win once in any twelve. That led to invitations to the Which? Awards in each of the past two years, and the company understands it is the only double glazing firm to have been invited in that time. It has also been shortlisted at the Scottish Home Improvement Awards for Scotland's Best Window Replacement Company and Scotland's Best Door Company.

None of it is treated as a substitute for the accreditation. “We see the accreditation as far more than a logo,” James says. “It is an important way of demonstrating our ongoing commitment to quality, transparency and exceptional customer service.” The logo goes on the website and links straight through to the profile, the certificate hangs in the showroom, and the status comes up in the sales conversation where a customer wants independent reassurance before spending.

Three apprentices, and a showroom under refit

The fenestration trade has a skills shortage, and Balhousie has taken the slow route to solving its own share of it. Three apprenticeships have been created in the past year, and two of those apprentices are close to qualifying as window fitters.

The Perth showroom is being revitalised at the same time, with current products, current colours and a rebuilt exterior, so that customers choosing between options can actually see them. Beyond Perthshire, the plan is measured growth into Dundee, Fife and Falkirk rather than growth for its own sake.

James puts the ambition in one line, and it is a better summary than anything we could write. “Our goal isn't simply to become a bigger business. It's to become an even better one.”

James Gaft
Marketing Manager, Balhousie Glazing Limited

Quick questions

Where does Balhousie Glazing work?
Perth and Perthshire, and increasingly Dundee, Fife, Falkirk and Stirling, working from two sites in Perth: the showroom and head office on Feus Road, and the trade counter and supply only premises on the Inveralmond Industrial Estate.

What does Balhousie Glazing install?
Windows and doors in uPVC, composite and aluminium, including casement, sash, bay, bi-fold and patio styles, along with cladding and supply only orders through the trade counter. Products carry a ten year insurance backed guarantee from the date of installation.

Has Trading Standards checked the business?
Yes. Balhousie Glazing is a SCOTSS Approved Trader, listed on the national portal run on behalf of the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland, and the business and its owners have been vetted by Trading Standards. Trading Standards do not inspect or approve individual jobs, so the workmanship is judged in the customer reviews on the profile.

• View Balhousie Glazing's SCOTSS Approved Trader profile.
• Read Balhousie Glazing's verified customer reviews.
• If you would like to become an Approved Trader, you can apply here.
• If you are an Approved Trader and would like to leave a case study either as text or as a video, get in touch.