The handy 66-year-old had enjoyed his time in sales so much that he wanted to thank the company – and did so by making a stunning stag’s head from aluminium.
His bosses were so impressed they hung it in their reception and suddenly George, a former toolmaker, was receiving commissions to make more of the eye-catching wall art.
Fifteen months on and George is now making the stags’ heads full-time and has had to employ four people to keep up with demand.
The Kilmarnock man is currently fulfilling nearly 500 orders for 40 gift shops throughout Scotland.
“I’m having the time of my life,” George smiled.
“I was really worried about retiring, because I’m an active person and needed to do something. And then fate threw an opportunity at me.
“During my 35 years in sales for the welding industry I had visited more than 40 countries and I decided to give thanks to Fronius UK, the Austrian company I worked for, by making them something Scottish. I decided on the stag, since it’s a Scottish icon.
“It took me a year, working on it in my greenhouse when I wasn’t at work.”
The dad-of-three was surprised by the feedback once the red-coloured stag was placed in the company’s Milton Keynes UK base.
Realising he had stumbled upon something special, he converted his home office into a workshop and got to work on his new commissions.
But it was when he attended a trade fair in Glasgow last year that he came up with the idea that would turn the growing pastime into a full-time job.
“I went along and saw a lot of Harris Tweed around, so I thought I would start covering the aluminium in Harris Tweed cloth.”
“My dad had a Harris Tweed coat that was revered in our house when I was young, so it has a personal connection too.”Interest in the quirky design was immediate and he set up a company, Hummingbird Sculptures, and a Facebook page.
The orders began flowing in, so much so that George had to employ a firm to make the aluminium kit.
He uses not only Harris Tweed designs but also clan tartans on request and now makes the stags in three different sizes.
George, who is married to Margaret, returned to the trade fair in Glasgow a few weeks ago, this time with his own exhibitor’s stand and the reaction was overwhelming.
“I had my first order within 10 minutes and received 300 on that first day. By the conclusion of the weekend I had 480.”
Until now only Kilmarnock Railway Heritage Trust and Luss General Store at Loch Lomond had been selling the stags, apart from his online orders (www.hummingbirdsculptures.com), but soon
George’s unusual works of art will be available throughout Scotland.
He’s also sent stags to places like Moscow and Edmonton in Canada, and created a special Kilmarnock FC tartan version for the club’s chairman.
It’s created 12-hour working days for the “retired” grandfather-of-two.George added: “There I was worried about retirement made this as a gift,and now look at what’s happened.
“I’m living the dream.”
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