In 1926, Devonvale employed 33 men and for the first time turned a profit.

Profit sharing was introduced a year later when employees "from the shop-lad upwards" were to be paid a bonus as a dividend of the net profit of the business.

By 1936 the workforce had increased to 238 and the business thrived.

In 1935, Sydney Platfoot built homes and a sports pavilion with bowling and tennis for his workers and used the butterfly to influence his designs. Even the houses in Moss Road were laid out in a butterfly shape.

Five years earlier Platfoot had been made provost of the town, and had coined the motto Devonvale Means Quality.

The main building at Devonvale was given a makeover in 1938 with the outer walls whitewashed. This was at a time when Tillicoultry itself was taking on the rejuvenation of its buildings.

A campaign had begun during the late 1930s for Tillicoultry to have a larger hall built, but the town council were unwilling to raise rates to fund it. Platfoot stepped up to the mark as the employees of Samuel Jones needed a new hall.

In 1940, and after two years of work, the Devonvale Hall was completed and formally opened by Mrs Platfoot on May 11.

It was open to both workers and the community and could seat up to 800 people. Dances could accommodate up to 200 couples.

After WWII, Platfoot commissioned a war memorial for workers who gave their lives during the conflict. It was unveiled in 1947.

In 1954, the business expanded considerably, and a staff canteen was built, which re-opened as The Butterfly Inn in 1981.

Work began in coating, rewinding and slitting paper at the converted Oak Mill in Lower Mill Street and by the mid-1960s over 150 people were employed there.

The new West Mill was opened in 1964 and three years later Wiggins Teape, one of Britain's oldest paper making businesses, bought the paper mill from Samuel Jones and the paper manufacturing continued, accounting for 20 per cent of the total working population of the town.

Then in 1972, Devonvale closed suddenly. A year later, it was bought by George Knowles who built one of the country's first out of town retail parks.

It began trading as Sterling Warehouses Ltd in 1974 with a single showroom. Slowly the warehouse expanded and it became one of Scotland's most famous shops.

In 2016, Sterling bought out rivals Forrest Furnishing with the headquarters based in Tillicoultry, and between them employ around 600 people.