THE firm celebrates its 21st anniversary this year, and the staff and

management are keener than ever to uphold the tradition of high quality,

good service and reliability which has been the hallmark of the firm

since its inception.

The company was set up by the late T. R. McPherson, a time-served

joiner who, after a spell in the Royal Navy as a photographer, joined a

Paisley-based microfilm company as the manager and realised the

potential of the microfilming service.

It had always been his ambition to set up and run his own business, so

in 1972 he left his managerial job and founded T. R. McPherson Ltd. With

the assistance of David L. Russell, especially in financial matters, the

company operated initially from rented premises at Blackhall House in

Paisley.

There were just four staff -- Mr McPherson, his wife and two others.

But over the years the business has steadily blossomed. It now owns 8500

sq.ft of offices in Main Road, Elderslie, and employs 38 workers.

When the firm was first set up, the main bulk of its business was done

in Central Scotland. Now, however, its services are used by clients

throughout Scotland, the North of England and overseas.

Clients who employ the services of T. R. McPherson include Government

agencies and departments, local authorities, nationalised and private

industries, major international companies, universities and libraries.

Another important sector of T. R. McPherson's business is providing

microfilm services to companies linked to the oil industry in Aberdeen

and the North-east of Scotland.

All of the firm's clients benefit from the high standards set by

company founder T. R. McPherson and carried on now by his son Gordon

McPherson, who took over as managing director when his father died two

years ago.

''Setting up this company had been my father's life-long ambition,''

Mr McPherson said. ''I am merely a custodian of this firm, and I intend

to carry out what my father wanted for the firm -- that was to ensure it

had a strong foundation and build it up slowly from that secure base,

and to ensure that high standards are constantly maintained.''

The firm is continually striving to improve upon the already high

standards it sets for itself. It takes national quality standards as its

minimum requirement for its products, and it is working towards gaining

BS5750 quality accreditation.

The pursuit of excellence is one of the reasons the firm has decided

against opening satellite offices or contracting out work to other

agencies.