Donald Simpson is proof positive there’s more than one way to get to the very top of your profession.
He may have founded and become head of a successful property management company but rather than taking the traditional route – via a career in property surveying – he started his working life as a software developer.
“It’s certainly not the usual way to get into this sector,” he admits. “I was working with a property owner and wrote the software for an online investment management and reporting system. This gave me the inspiration to leave and start Cowiesburn commercial property managers.
“That became the basis for our financial system here – one that gives our clients and their advisers complete control over their investments and also access to all lease information.”
Even at a senior executive level, property management can be a challenging role, with both the owners and clients needing to be pleased on several fronts.
Donald says: “Investment and finance is a very important element – there’s the rent to be collected from tenants and service charges in buildings that have several tenants.
“Then there’s the on-the-ground management, making sure the building’s kept safe and clean, and that means placing regular contracts for cleaners to be there when they should be.
“The third element is handling larger contracts, for example in a big commercial building. We have to make sure these contracts are competitive and monitored.”
Donald doesn’t think he’s been hindered by his unconventional path into the property sector.
“It’s probably given us an advantage,” he says. “Software development is about looking at new ways of doing things, whereas a lot of practices in the property industry are there because things are still done in the way they’ve always been done.
“As a software developer you’re building something from scratch, and you can go down the wrong avenue – but it’s all about identifying this and fixing it and that’s what I’ve done at Cowiesburn.
“The fact we’re doing things differently from others in the industry is quite attractive to a lot of people and we’ve grown as a company because clients realise that we’re doing things differently in a good way.”
When it comes to overseeing a growing company, there’s always a balance to find between being hands-on and delegating responsibility. Donald admits that, while he tends to be the former, he’s become a lot better at letting go.
“We’re too big for the main guy to be running everything now and I have a strong team of directors in our offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester. This allows me to concentrate on running the business and formulating our future strategy. I also have a non-executive director to help with this.”
Being able to identify the right talent and trust your people is also key to success and Donald says, “Cowiesburn has gone down the route of looking for people whose attitude will complement the company rather than those with specific qualifications. I tend toward people who will fit in well with the team and the culture of job – that’s 80% of the skill set itself,” he adds.
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