The First Business to Use WorkPhotos: West of Scotland Engineering

Work Story by Ross Somerville
Founder of WorkPhotos & Owner of West of Scotland Engineering

When I first started WorkPhotos, I didn’t have to look far for a place to test it out. The first business to use WorkPhotos was my own—West of Scotland Engineering Co Ltd. It might sound a bit cheeky, but what better way to trial an app than by putting it to work in the chaotic environment that inspired it?

Running a 100-year-old engineering firm isn’t exactly a walk in the park. My team and I spend our days repairing industrial machinery, dealing with customer demands, and trying to keep up with the constant jobs coming in and out. It’s busy and loud and messy, and it’s a challenge to keep everything organized—especially when it comes to documentation.

We’d often find ourselves asking the same questions: “Have we done this job before?” “When did we do it?” “Which customer was it for?” And, “How can we prove this job was done correctly?”

These questions were the starting point for WorkPhotos. I wanted to create something that would make our lives easier, something that would take the chaos out of managing job photos. And so, when it came time to test the app, I turned to West of Scotland Engineering.

Testing on the team

I didn’t give my team much of a choice—they were going to be the guinea pigs. I thought it was the best way to see if the app could handle our day-to-day challenges in a busy engineering workshop.

I half expected some of them to tell me to sod off and go have my mid-life crisis somewhere else, away from the workshop. But I was genuinely amazed by their reaction. The people I thought would push back the most—those who aren’t big on tech or prefer to work in silence—ended up using it the most. And on the flip side, the ones who were already tech-savvy, who I figured might take to it, were right there with them, loving it from the get-go.

This was a real eye-opener for me. It told me that WorkPhotos wasn’t just a nice idea—it could actually work across the board. Whether someone was tech-friendly or more hands-on, they all saw the value in it. Instead of wasting time hunting through our phones for the right photo or trying to remember which job a photo belonged to, everything was neatly organized by job.

The app was simple, straightforward, and—most importantly—it worked. My team could spend less time chasing down information and more time actually getting the job done. Seeing the app in action, solving real problems in real-time, was all the proof I needed that we were onto something.

Lessons from the First Trial Run

Using West of Scotland Engineering as the testing ground for WorkPhotos taught me a lot about what users really need from an app like this. The biggest lesson? Keep it simple. If the app was too complicated, my team wouldn’t use it, plain and simple. So, I made it my priority to ensure WorkPhotos did one thing really well: organizing and managing job site photos.

Another key takeaway was the importance of secure, cloud-based storage. My team didn’t want to clutter their personal devices with work photos, and as a business owner, I needed a reliable way to store and access these images without worrying about losing them. WorkPhotos provided both, and it quickly turned into an essential tool for us. Seeing how it made our processes smoother and our lives easier confirmed that we were on the right track.

From Engineering to Other Industries

West of Scotland Engineering was the first to use WorkPhotos, but from the start, I knew it had potential to help other industries. The problems we deal with—keeping track of work, organizing photos, and having solid evidence when it’s needed—aren’t unique to engineering. Whether you’re in construction, installation, agriculture, or any hands-on field, those challenges are universal.

What really excites me is seeing how WorkPhotos can make a difference in these other sectors and businesses. It helps you keep everything in order, ensures your team stays aligned, and gives you the peace of mind that comes with knowing you’ve got the evidence to back up your work. I believe WorkPhotos has the potential to become an essential app for businesses across various sectors, and that’s something I’m passionate about seeing develop as more people start to use it.

A Solution Born from Necessity

WorkPhotos was something I genuinely needed for my own business. It started right in the workshop at West of Scotland Engineering, where we faced real, everyday challenges that needed a better solution. Initially, it was just about making our work easier to manage, but it quickly became clear that it could be useful far beyond our own walls. 

By testing and refining WorkPhotos in our own operations, I’ve shaped it into an app that I believe can genuinely help other businesses. It’s a practical solution for anyone who needs to keep things organized, no matter the industry.