THE long-term approach that seems to have departed so many big businesses in today’s technology-driven world of headless chickens and short attention spans was, reassuringly, once again to the fore in The Herald’s latest Scottish Family Business Awards.

Among those who epitomised this approach was Kenneth Graham McAlpine, a director of venerable plumbing products manufacturer McAlpine & Co. This company, based at Hillington on the south side of Glasgow, is about 115 years old.

Mr McAlpine, who is in his 80s, is among the third generation who are at the helm of the family business. He joked at the awards ceremony earlier this month, as he picked up the Outstanding Contribution award for himself and the company, that the fourth generation was going to have to wait a while longer.

The message that resonated from Mr McAlpine’s brief but highly astute acceptance speech was all about the long-term view and steady approach of the company, which contrasts with the ultimately unproductive bells-and-flashing-lights approach of an increasing number of management types these days.

In particular, it was encouraging to hear Mr McAlpine, who has long been committed to developing the next generation of engineers through apprenticeships, say the company had never made anyone redundant.

And this is where family businesses often have big advantages over the likes of stock market-listed companies. Family firms are able to invest for the long term, and know the importance of retaining skills and experience through the ups and downs of the economic cycles.

Such companies will often retain staff during periods of lower activity, which enables them not only to do the right thing by people through difficult times but also build loyalty and ensure they retain the skills and experience required to capitalise on new opportunities. This type of long-term thinking can also pay off financially in the long term.

And, just because McAlpine is going about its business steadily, and in a very low-profile way, this does not mean it is not innovative. The firm is sharply focused on remaining at the cutting edge in terms of product quality and development.

Mr McAlpine advised anyone who wants a view on the company to ask its customers, the plumbers.

The firm has a very strong track record of innovation. It notes on its website that it “commenced manufacturing plumbing products in 1902 and in 1957 was the first United Kingdom company to manufacture plastic traps”.

McAlpine, which employs in excess of 750 people, also exports to more than 60 countries. It is exactly the type of business that Scotland needs at a time when the domestic UK economy is struggling, and being affected badly by the Brexit vote.

There were many others in the room at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow that epitomised the long-term approach adopted to great effect by many Scottish family businesses.

Among them was GAP Group, which has enjoyed great success and strong growth in recent years by adding the likes of crowd-control barriers and surveying equipment to its traditional plant and tool hire business.

The Glasgow-based company, which is run by brothers and major shareholders Douglas and Iain Anderson, posted an 11 per cent jump in turnover to a record £175m for the year to March 31.

GAP, which picked up the Business Innovation Award at the event, posted its second-highest-ever profits in the 12 months to March. Its pre-tax profits rose to £17.1m, from £15.8m in the prior 12 months.

The firm’s staff numbers at March 31 were 1,633, having increased by around two-thirds over a four-year period in a challenging sector.

Douglas and Iain Anderson have been running GAP Group since 1988. The business was founded by their father, Gordon Anderson, in 1969. The brothers know the business and sector inside out. And they clearly recognise the importance of a skilled, experienced and loyal workforce.

There was much to celebrate, against the current dismal UK economic backdrop, in terms of the achievements of the winners, the finalists and other entrants in the Scottish Family Business Awards.

Not only was there great quality among these family businesses, there was also huge variety.

Mull diving operation MDive is a much younger business than McAlpine, or GAP, but it is great to see the company combine major efforts for the good of the community with the undoubtedly hard work of running a young business.

Elsewhere in rural Scotland, Gow’s Lybster in Caithness, which operates in the nuclear sector, and Lockerbie-based Grange Quarry also highlighted the diversity of Scotland’s family business base.

Other category winners were long-established bathroom firm Wholesale Domestic, potato crisp manufacturing venture Mackie’s at Taypack, cleaning company Spectrum Service Solutions, environmental champion and ice-cream maker Mackie’s of Scotland, timber group James Donaldson & Sons, and whisky distiller Douglas Laing & Co. McAlpine & Co also won the Scottish Family Business of the Year (Large) category.

In every one of the six years the Scottish Family Business Awards have been running, the entries have provided much room for cheer amid the protracted UK economic gloom. The myriad successes of Scottish family businesses reported regularly by The Herald also highlight the importance of this sector.

At the moment, there is a great deal of hand-wringing about how to improve productivity and boost economic growth, particularly given the grim outlook created by the Brexit vote. Without wishing to play down the need for public policy measures on this front, it is worth noting that some of the answers to the question of what brings business and consequently broader economic success are simple.

Take a long-term approach. Use the skills and experience built up over years and sometimes generations. Recognise the crucial part played by the workforce in success. And, like Mr Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol, treat employees well.