IT started out in 1996 as a one-man business in Innerleithen.

But today, The Scotlight Group is the town’s biggest employer with 20 staff and is one of the UK’s leading online lighting retailers.

That transformation has been acknowledged in the prestigious 2014 Herald Scottish Family Business Awards for which the firm has been shortlisted in two categories - Customer Service Excellence and Best Rural Family Business.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Glasgow’s Grand Central Hotel on December 3.

It is the latest chapter in a success story which began humbly in 1996 when Tom Fraser started supplying lamps to local commercial and domestic customers from his Innerleithen home.

In 2000 the firm moved into its High Street showroom, but the real break for Scotlight came in 2003 when Tom’s eldest son Andrew, who had already designed several computer games, joined the company.

Andrew set about redesigning the website and exploring the potential of using e-commerce to target a national market, culminating in the launch in 2006 - and courtesy of Tom remortgaging his home - of Scotlight Direct.

Readily embracing innovations in the lighting industry – from LEDs to lasers – Scotlight has since become one of the sector’s biggest online retailers, supplying and installing for a range of customers – from hotel chains to interior design specialists.

Notable local customers include Glenrath Farms – also shortlisted for a Herald award – and Wemyss and March Estates.

The effectiveness of the company’s e-commerce operations was highlighted on the Ekomi business feedback platform in September when it revealed that 99.56 per cent of 2,745 Scotlight customers had given the firm positive reviews – the highest customer feedback rating of all the lighting retailers in the UK. To further cater for its domestic and business customers, in 2008 Scotlight acquired one of the local companies it had used for installations to form Scotlight Electrical, while its continued faith in Innerleithen was manifest last year when it invested £30,000 transforming its showroom and warehouse.

The ethos of a family business is important to Scotlight. As well as Andrew, who became managing director earlier this year, Tom’s wife Pamela and his other sons Iain and Thomas, have all played a part as the firm has developed.

And the young husband and wife partnership of Warren and Donna Palacci from Peebles now perform the roles of head of the commercial division and marketing co-ordinator respectively.

Donna says everyone at Scotlight is delighted the firm’s commitment to customer service has been recognised.

“We don’t have automated telephone systems, just friendly staff always eager to answer to a customer’s needs,” she told the Peeblesshire News.

“We are always learning from our customers, how best to meet their needs and we shape our business accordingly.”