In our regular feature, we find out about members of the Scottish Decorators’ Federation. This time it’s Donald McDonald, from D McDonald Decorators Ltd.
What’s your background?
I did my apprenticeship with a company called George Wilson (Stonehouse) Ltd, near where I live in Larkhall, South Lanarkshire. The company specialised in building new houses across Scotland and at one time employed more than 500 people in the area. It was when the new towns were being built in the 60s and 70s, so they built most of East Kilbride and Cumbernauld for the local authorities. I actually applied for a joiner position, but they had all gone, so I ended up taking the painting and decorating apprenticeship.
I started in 1974 and one of the tradesmen I worked with was always putting me forward for things and really took me under his wing. He was really old school – he used to wear a white jacket and trousers, and a collar and tie to work. If I hadn’t shaved or washed my overalls, he used to send me home – that was the kind of place it was. Different times now.
Towards the end of my apprenticeship, I had three months to go, when one of the foremen sadly passed away unexpectedly. He was due to retire in three months and I was tipped for his job. So, management just put me into his job early, despite the fact that I was still an apprentice. It meant one day I was working on the tools with the other tradesmen and the next I was their boss, telling them what to do. It didn’t go down very well with some of the older ones. But I just got on with it.
When the company branched out into private housing, they encouraged me to start on my own and actually kept me on retainer while I established myself in the new business. That was in 1984 – we celebrated our 40th anniversary this year. I can hardly believe it.
What’s your specialty?
The company works predominantly on new builds, for multinationals such as Barratt, Persimmon and Cruden, to name a few. At the early stages, we do all the Ames taping and spray a mist coat over the walls, then let the joiners finish off and then we go in again to do all the final paintwork. I am good at wallpapering too – we work with interior designers on many of the show homes at the new developments and they often have high-end wallpaper in the rooms.
When did you join the SDF?
I used to go to Federation social events and was persuaded to join in 2008. I’ve been President twice – once in 2016 and then also the following year as the incoming President had an accident, so I stepped in.
I am still on the National Council and my son Graeme is Vice President at the moment.
What’s the best thing about the Federation?
Having the ability to contact them if you have a problem is really important to me. I love just being able to pick up the phone and speak to Neil Rogers about something that might be troubling me. There is also a great camaraderie within the Federation. For instance, if a tender package comes to us and it’s not in our area, then we’ll pass it on to a member company in that area. And vice versa.
How has the Federation changed?
It’s great to see the younger generation coming through, which means the Federation will have a future. The Scottish Painting and Decorating Show is getting bigger too, which is great news for the industry as a whole.
The Federation also helps members with training courses. For example, Graeme went to a ‘face-fitting’ course which qualifies him to correctly fit masks to the staff when working in dusty environments.
What’s been the biggest challenge in your career?
Starting the business was a challenge. I had no idea how to run a business, although my 10 years at George Wilson stood me in good stead. Keeping on top of all the new products is challenging too. However, Dulux and some of the other paint companies will send us new items to test out and evaluate.
What’s been your favourite job?
Due to the nature of our work the properties are very similar, so I can’t really identify one particular job. We don’t paint cathedrals or that sort of thing either! In terms of a favourite client though – we’ve been with Barratt for 16 years now and they are great to work with.
What would be your dream job?
I would love to paint a cathedral or something like that. When I was serving my apprenticeship, I did some intricate decorative work and it would be lovely to do that again.
What are the long-term plans for the business?
My son Graeme and daughter Alexis already work in the business. Graeme is a Contracts Manager/Supervisor, while Alexis has an administration and accounting role (she has a business degree). My wife Janette also works in the office but we both plan to retire in the next couple of years. Our children will take the company over and they will probably become joint MDs to share the workload.
Graeme is more technologically minded than me. While I go about the site with a pad of paper and a pen, he uses an iPad. He does use social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, but we’ve never
felt the need to have a website as we have always been in work.
Can you tell us a little about your life beyond work?
I’ve been married to Janette for 45 years and we try to get away as often as possible to our static caravan in the Lake District. We love that area of the world and the van is a great place for entertaining as it’s so big. We have two grandchildren and two step grandchildren, so it’s a great place to have a family gathering and relax. I am also involved in the community in Larkhall – I am a church elder and a past President of the Rotary Club and also a past President of the Larkhall Professional and Businessmen’s Club. I’m a well kent face in Larkhall.
This article first appeared in the Autumn issue of Decorating Matters magazine.