Renovations at the Camelon offices of Print Central Limited uncovered a 106-year-old tile mural which had been hidden behind layers of timber and dust.

Brothers Scott (39) and Alan (42) McCabe, along with best friend Stephen Matthews (40), set up the businesses in Jubilee House at The Hedges earlier this year after deciding there was a gap in the market.

Built in 1890, the building is best known as the home of the former Co-op store and the room in which the print business is run originally housed the butcher.

The third floor of the premises was destroyed by fire in 1974.
The McCabes have been involved with the Jubilee Snooker hall which runs in the same building, as well as The Creamery snooker hall in
Bainsford, for a number of years.

Scott said; "When we bought the building in 2005, the room, which we've been told was boarded up in the 1950s, was never cleared out and was used as a store room for the snooker hall.

"We knew some sort of art was on the walls but we could only see about 15 per cent, the rest was hidden behind timber cladding and dust. It was only after we decided it would be perfect for the new business that we began clearing it out and uncovered the mural in its full glory."

After getting advice from a ceramic tile conservationist, the owners carefully cleaned each of the 600 tiles, unveiling a whole series of images depicting the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals
Scott added: "We totally stripped the place, flinging out old till receipts and newspapers from the 1920s and even a set of scales dating back to the 1900s.

"It was painstaking work but when customers visit the premises, the first thing they see is the mural and it's a real talking point."

Although putting a value to the mural has proved impossible so far,
Scott has managed to find out a bit about its history.
He said; "It is technically known as a tube lined frieze. The plain ceramic tiles were made in England and transported to J. Duncan Ltd in
Glasgow where a team of artists, working from photographs, would reproduce the images by making wells in the tiles and flooding them with ink.

"Each layer of colour would then have to be fired and the whole process must have taken a long time to complete."

The owners are delighted to share their own piece of local history with anyone who wants to pop in.

Helped to set up their company by Business Gateway's Grangemouth office, they were also able to talk about the mural at its networking event.

Scott added: "It really provided us with a platform to showcase the artwork but also speak to people about the whole range of services we offer."