Paint, Plaster And The Pursuit Of Perfection

by Evelyn Hood

Norton House ceiling

In this country we have magnificently maintained and preserved castles, stately homes, civic buildings, museums etc. Evelyn Hood meets John Nevin, Managing Director of MacKay Decorators (Perth Ltd) and of Nevin of Edinburgh Ltd to learn something of the beautiful restoration work undertaken by the company and his passion for keeping ancient skills alive.

For over 28 years John Nevin has been responsible for the redecoration of some of the finest buildings in the United Kingdom, including Mount Stuart, Hopetoun House, Kenwood House, Pugin’s house in Ramsgate, Amunsidhe Castle, Hill House at Helensburgh, Provost Bain’s House and the Royal Exchange in Glasgow, and very many more. In recent years he has won four United Kingdom Painter of the Year awards over a short period of time and he was awarded the title of Scottish Supreme Decorator by the Scottish Decorators’ Federation.

John’s two companies are precisely complementary. MacKay Decorators (Perth) Ltd was founded in 1857 in Main Street, Bridgend, Perth and developed into the largest painting and decorating company in Perth. In 1913 they took over additional premises in the basement and old coach house of Kinnoull Church Halls at 1 Riverside, Perth. This is now the Head Office of John’s united companies.

For a firm that’s almost 150 years old it is remarkable that from its inception MacKay Decorators has been a private company with only four previous owners before John. The company has been responsible for the decoration of a great number of prestigious buildings throughout the UK – amongst the local of which are Perth Museum, the Old Perth City Chambers as well as the old City Hall and the new Concert Hall.

In the 1930s MacKays employed its first Art Director – TH Peddie. At a time of national financial depression this was a bold move, but indicates the company’s far-sightedness. They had already been involved in gold leaf stencilling and hand-painted ornament and TH Peddie was an invaluable addition to the staff. One fine local example of his work can be seen in the Upper Hall at 3 Tay Street.

The Nevin of Edinburgh is of much more recent origin. When I asked John how he’d got interested in painting and decorating he replied, “When I was 16 I got an apprenticeship with Hugh Muirhead and Son in Leith – a company established in 1887. The day my apprenticeship ended in 1977 I set myself up in business working from my mother’s living-room in Leith. The business grew quickly. I’d become interested in restoration techniques. There was a lot of work available in Edinburgh but eventually so much of my work was coming from Perth and Perthshire it seemed sensible to move the headquarters to here.”

Apart from private clients, John’s company works extensively for the National Trust for Scotland, the National Trust in England, Historic Scotland, the Landmark Trust, the Historic Palaces Agency, local authority agencies and Preservation Trusts all over Britain. They are the only Scottish company employed by English Heritage. Such is the firm’s reputation that there’s hardly an historic or important property in the country they haven’t worked in.

Today John employs around 40 workers. “80% of MacKay Decorators business is in painting and decorating - from the smallest living room to the biggest public building. Only 20% of the business is in restoration projects and it’s me and my son Mark who are mostly responsible for the fine work. But site preparation work is extremely important and the teams doing that do it to a level far above normal preparation levels.”