Laurence Smith

After leaving school in Whiteness, he worked in Lerwick as a message boy with John G. Irvine, and later started up the business of Ridland & Smith with Henry Ridland.

He served in WWI with the Gordon Highlanders and was wounded at Bentecourt and had to have his left leg amputated at the knee, and was the recipient of an artificial leg. When he came out of the Army, he worked for a short time in Edinburgh working for Tods, but soon returned to Ridland & Smith's. Then he bought a small shop in Commercial Street before moving into the premises that became Universal Stores. He retired in 1958.

He was a keen sailor and was commodore of the Lerwick Boating Club from 1949 to 1952. Although unable to play football through his war injury, he was a keen supporter of local football, serving a term as the president of the Shetland Football Association.