WHILE concerns persist about the risk of a downturn in consumer spending, there have been plenty of indications that retailers who appeal to the affluent and sell in specialist markets are doing all right.

This week's SME Focus highlights the success of one such Scottish firm that is thriving in the niche business of reinventing the kind of tartan clothing and ephemera sometimes associated with clichéd images of a Scotland of yesteryear.

Since walking out on a steady job with one of the grandest names of Scottish engineering in his youth, owner Brian Halley has not been short of faith in his own judgment. However, it was only after he found himself facing ruin that Halley had to concede that even the boldest businessmen need to ensure they are properly prepared for contingencies.

Name: Brian Halley.

Age: 38.

What is your business called? Clan Scotland Ltd, trading as Slanj.

Where is it based? St Vincent Street, Glasgow, and St Marys Street, Edinburgh.

What does it produce, what services does it offer? High-quality, contemporary Highlandwear and own-label, Scottish-branded casual wear.

To whom does it sell? Most of our customers are male from 15 years to 60 years, although we are selling more children's and women's wear.

What is its turnover? £1.5m.

How many employees? 19.

When was it formed? 1995.

Why did you take the plunge? I identified a gap in the market for a tartan clothing brand, and I had wanted to run my own business for as long as I could remember. Even now, the only two real global Scottish clothing brands are Pringle and Lyle & Scot, both of which were originally established as golf wear.

What were you doing before? When I left school I did not really know what I wanted to do but I loved cars and thought about opening a garage. I had been trading cars since I was 14, going to the car auction, buying old bangers, doing them up and selling them. The family business was also in the motor trade so there was some logic in starting an apprenticeship with Arnold Clark.

I wanted to try and learn about all aspects of the business. However, after a year in the various different departments I realised that it was a dirty business and I left to study engineering in Edinburgh. The next plan was to set up a small manufacturing business.

After gaining an HND in mechanical engineering I was not really mature enough to start a business, I was too busy playing rugby and drinking for Scotland. It took a while to find a half-decent job in the glamour world of engineering, and it was still the summer so I set up Joe Mangel's Gardening Services with a mate. Winter set in, so Joe Mangel's Gardening Services did not last long. That was another dirty business.

The next port of call was in the drawing office at Weir Pumps, in Alloa. This lasted about eight months until they had to close down the office and I was made redundant. It was sad for the others but I was delighted. The next job was working for Motherwell Bridge Projects in Motherwell.

After a few months in the planning office (with a couple of great old guys) I was completely bored so when they offered me a site engineer's post in Ghana I jumped at the chance. I had never heard of the country but it sounded like an adventure. I travelled round Ghana to see the various Motherwell Bridge Projects, from refineries, oil storage depots and gold mines; it was a fantastic experience but not the job for me.

I returned to a procurement job based in Motherwell and used to sit at my desk, dreaming of an escape. One grim morning I told a colleague that I had a dentist appointment and just got up and walked out. I had no idea what I was actually going to do at that point but the relief was incredible. Freedom.

None of the above prepared me for starting a clothing business but I thought how difficult could it be? My idea was to make tartan trousers for golfers and polo shirts, fleece jumpers, et cetera, for sports clubs with the respective club crest or my own logo embroidered on the chest.

My first company name was Intaglio. Don't ask me why, but all my friends persuaded me it was rubbish although the clothes had potential. Then a pal suggested the name "Slanj" and immediately I thought it was a great Scottish name. The nature of the word and the way it is said - normally with a clink of glasses and a big gulp of booze - has a great feel-good factor about it.

I had no tailoring or garment making experience so I have always had to rely on finding high-quality manufacturers. With all kinds of manufacturing in Scotland in decline this has always been very difficult. However, the tartan trousers were quite simple to make and soon became very popular.

Business quickly grew from word of mouth. My brother, Craig, had just completed an honours degree in clothing design and he was always on hand to help with ideas. He discovered a local tailor who had a few private clients and I decided to order a three-piece tartan suit for myself.

The suit was so over the top - it was wonderful. I stuffed the pockets full of business cards and started wearing it to Scotland games at Murrayfield. The demand for the suits was incredible, with many people ordering two at a time. Soon it was obvious that we needed a retail outlet and I opened the first shop with an old friend in a West George Street basement.

By now we were specialising in formal wear for weddings and velvet frockcoats with silk waistcoats and tartan trousers were seen as a great alternative to the boring kilt outfit. This was our bread and butter for years but after a while sales slowed and we decided to re- invent the shortbread tin image of the kilt. The black Prince Charlie with all the shiny buttons, bright kilt, grey sporran and cream socks was modernised with new jackets, Edwardian-style shirts, cravats, hairy sporrans, coloured socks and our own range of subtle and stylish Slanj tartans.

Our Highlandwear is still extremely popular and we sell around 1000 outfits a year. However, more recently we have been focussing on our casual wear and recently launched a new casual store, Slanj Originals, beside our kilt shop on St Vincent Street.

We have a licence agreement with the Scottish Football Association and have produced around 50 designs of our own T-shirts. The most popular designs include "Glasgow - A Tropical Paradise" and "Scotland Weather", which shows a black cloud from the television weather map with clouds, rain drop and snow. Everyone pitches in T-shirt ideas and a typical working week involves our graphic designer, Gil Hoyle, Craig and myself designing a couple of T-shirts, sporran tops, cufflinks, etcetera. Happy days.

How did you raise the start-up funding? I used a few thousand pounds worth of savings for the first shop, which I started with a mate, but the business has grown organically. I have never had a business loan.

What was your biggest break? Probably when I decided to give Paul Gascoigne a bright blue tartan suit on the day that he signed for Rangers. I had to guess at his measurements but luckily, baggy suits were still in fashion and it looked OK. I knew he would be crazy enough to wear the suit and when he came out the door (sideways, because the shoulders were so wide ) at Cameron House there was about 30 snappers waiting for him. The next day the photos went in every single paper. However my brother Craig will say that my biggest break was when he joined Slanj full time in 1999. After graduating he had been working for Vivienne Westwood in London. Latterly, he was working as a television extra, best known as a gormless policeman in Taggart.

What was your worst moment? We moved from our first basement shop into St Vincent Street, which was four times the size and 10 times as expensive. After a fantastic five months of trading I got a call from Craig to say that the cafe next door had gone up in smoke overnight. Our shop was totally devastated by the fire and I was massively underinsured. It was nearly two years before we could return to St Vincent Street.

What do you most enjoy about running the business? I like making suits and kilts for Scottish celebrities like Ewan McGregor and it is great to see our clothes in the paper and on television. The biggest coup was probably the white tartan suit we sent to Jonathan Ross. He wore it on his Friday Night show during the 2006 World Cup.

What do you least enjoy? Having to go to the same office every day, I like variety.

What is your biggest bugbear? Bad cheap kilts and sporrans that are imported from the Far East.

What are your ambitions for the firm? Rolling out Slanj kilt shops and Slanj Originals. The sales in our Glasgow store tells us that there is a huge demand for our products, and not just in Scotland. Thereafter I believe that there is a great opportunity to diversify with the Slanj brand. It is a powerful Scottish name which lends itself perfectly to drinks, pubs, etcetera.

What are your top priorities? First, we have just bought over one of our suppliers, this will open up another 150 possible outlets for our merchandise. Second, design and make more products in-house and in Scotland. Third, open more shops. Fourth, increase corporate business.

What single thing would most help? A little mentoring from one of Scotland's retail giants. And more sleep, I am a terrible insomniac.

What could the Westminster and/or Scottish Governments do that would most help? It would be great to receive more assistance from Scottish Enterprise, they are not too keen to help because we are in retail.

What was the most valuable lesson you learned? Make sure that we are properly insured from now on.

How do you relax? Spending time with my three beautiful daughters.