Robert Shaw was a patternmaker in Portdownie Foundry and in 1932 decided to set up his own business taking contract work from local foundries. Before long the business was receiving work from Ireland and beyond. In 1959 the long shed in which he had worked was in danger of collapse and a new one was built at right angles to it with its main gable facing the Old Stirling Road not far from Larbert Cross. The business expanded further in 1965 when a set of buildings was constructed to the south. After the death of the founder in 2003 (?) the patterns were returned to the commissioning foundries. In 2005 the site was sold for redevelopment as housing.
Robert Shaw claimed to have been televised by John Logie Baird in 1925 at the Temperance Cafe.