Obituary: James T Chalmers, furniture group founder and Royal Marine Commando veteran

Published on Friday 3 September 2010 14:38

James T Chalmers; furniture group founder and Royal Marine Commando veteran. Born: 14 April, 1921, in Dollar. Died: 1 September, 2010, in Dundee, aged 89.

AS an influential and highly respected company owner, James T Chalmers (Jim) was committed to developing furniture manufacturing with an emphasis on respect and integrity, which he brought from his war time training as a Royal Marine Commando.

He was rarely a man for compromise but was well known for his fairness and gained great respect from the vast majority of his numerous employees and customers.

In his 51 years in Dundee his contribution to the industrial landscape has been massive and many businesses have been established as a result of his influence, learning and his infectious "can do" and "hard graft" approach.

A member of the Institute of Patentees and Investors, he was instrumental in the practical development of modern furniture construction techniques, which are universal in today's market. However, in the early 1960s and 1970s, these were highly innovative techniques that have since led to the modern efficient manufacturing methods seen in today's finest mass-produced components.

During the Second World War, Jim served in the Royal Marines and then voluntarily joined the 46 Commando Royal Marines.

He was sent home wounded on the 14 August, 1944, a turning point in his life since it was at the Stirling Royal Infirmary that he first met his wife of 57 years, Beth. However, it would be a few years later until they were finally to get together; again as a result of hospitalisation when he contracted tuberculosis.

After recovering from his illness, he decided to give up the tools when he was given his first opportunity to start selling timber and joinery products for Muirhead & Sons of Grangemouth; then Scotland's largest independent timber merchant.

He was affectionately known as "Whiskers" because of his enviable ability to grow the bushiest of moustache, and "Rossini", a nickname from the forces, no doubt because of his great charm and Italianesque smoothness. In 1953, he married Beth and they settled in Dollar.

In 1959, he became managing director at A Bruce & Son in Dundee, tasked with transforming it from a jobbing joiner shop into a significant manufacturing plant capable of servicing the housing boom years. Working for Bett Bros house building company, the factory produced door sets, windows, stairs, kitchens, wardrobes and timber products to service their many housing development sites in Scotland. This activity was to set the pattern of creating employment for both young and old that has carried on right up to the present day.

In 1971, he started up his own company, Tay Valley Joinery. This was to be a successful venture with two factories in Dundee and one in Perth.It went on to become a well respected name in the industry until 1984 when a catalogue of unusual business events coincided to bring about its demise.

Quick to recover and never one to give up in the face of adversity, in 1986 having reached his 65th birthday he was frustrated and annoyed with the situation. Along with his sons Dougal, Donald and some trusted colleagues, he decided to start again and build another business to re-establish the Chalmers presence in the marketplace.

Risking everything, together they formed JTC (65) in Dundee as a specialist joinery manufacturer, eventually growing to use the old premises of Timex, which had produced a range of products from watches to the Sinclair ZX Computer since the 1950s until its infamous closure. The massive factory had lain empty for over a year until JTC purchased the buildings and after a number of repairs and modifications; the company commenced the full-scale manufacture of fitted kitchen, bedroom and bathroom furniture trading as the JTC Furniture Group.

By 2004, with the company now being led by his sons under his watchful eye, JTC was expanding even more rapidly. Further investments allowed for the upsurge in sales and increased complexity in the products that were supplied.

Ever the avid craftsman, he was keen to develop specialised contract furniture, often involving genuine craftsmanship using wood veneers and specialist composite materials leading to a further factory being opened in Dundee, at Manhattan Works, Dundonald Street.

Today, as a result of his entrepreneurial thinking - which can be traced back to 1959, the company is one of the largest privately-owned manufacturing employers in the area. It provides employment to around 400 local people in the factory - where on average a kitchen is produced every four minutes.

Although by this stage no longer taking an active role in the day-to-day running of the company, Jim stood testament to his true family values. Employees and customers took great pleasure in seeing him inspecting his factories or visiting the offices of other businesses - where he was always happy to demonstrate his knowledge, commitment and pride in the business he had grown from nothing over a period of more than 40 years.

Although a family man at heart, his business was always his passion. He loved to golf at Downfield and Royal Dornoch and took a keen interest in the flora and fauna that inhabit the course. He maintained his respect for the armed forces to the very end, always playing his part as a Royal Marine Commando Veteran to lay a wreath at the Commando War Memorial at Spean Bridge in the Scottish Highlands.

James T Chalmers was always a unique, inspirational and well respected character; a one-off who will be missed but not forgotten. He is survived by his wife Beth of 57 years, his sons and grandchildren.