Each week, we ask small businesses some key questions. This time we speak to Donald Mathieson, owner of D&E Coaches in Inverness.
How and why did you start in business?
I was raised in Kinbrace at the top end of the Strath of Kildonan in Sutherland and left Helmsdale school when I was 16 to operate a JCB for a local contractor. In my late teens I moved to Inverness and started driving buses at the Nigg oil rig fabrication yard for Newton’s Coaches of Dingwall, then, at 21, I passed my road bus test and began driving coaches all around the UK and Europe. I loved the life, saw a gap in the market and had a desire to go it alone so, 18 years ago, I started D&E Coaches. D&E is from my wife and my first names – Donald & Elizabeth.
How did you get to where you are today?
At first I worked from home with one minibus that cost me £1,000, concentrating on private hires and local council contracts. It all went very well and as business picked up so we started investing in our private hire coach business, focusing on niche markets like cruise ships. Today we have 60 staff, two garages and three yards, and our 50 buses and coaches travel all over the UK on tours and private hire. My whole family has worked incredibly hard to turn the dream into a reality – it’s all down to hard work and the drive to succeed.
Who helped you?
My late father, Alistair, was a great help and inspiration and he also worked part time in the office free of charge. My wife, Elizabeth, who has always said that I am off my head, is a nurse and worked flat out to keep the family going while I invested every penny at I made in the business.
Today all of my children, Gayle, Bryan & Amy, work in the office and I am very fortunate to have a strong team of loyal staff, some of whom have been with me from the start, even helping me to build the first garage.
Every business needs professional help and advice and to know that there is an organisation out there that fights for small, independent family businesses and the Federation of Small Businesses fits the bill perfectly. I have been a member of since I first started out.
What has been your biggest mistake?
Not having the foresight to buy a bigger piece of land when we first started. We had to pay a fortune for the land next door when we eventually decided that we needed more land to accommodate the expanding fleet of coaches and to build additional office and workshop space
What was your greatest achievement?
Creating a successful, expanding family business that my children enjoy being a part of – and reading and hearing the great feedback that we get from customers.
If you were in power in Government, what would you change?
I would give more support to people wanting to start their own businesses and I would make sure that the benefit system supports those who genuinely can’t work rather than those who are too lazy to get out and find a job.
I would also ensure that the health service is fully supported and stop any cutbacks, and I would ensure that health workers are better paid.
What do you still hope to achieve?
I am always looking for new opportunities to build the business and create something really worthwhile to pass on to my children.
What do you do to relax?
I love football and watch it on TV and live. We transport a lot of teams to and from matches – Wick Academy, Brora Rangers, Inverness Clachnacudden and Strathspey Thistle, as well as Ross County and Inverness Caley Thistle, and I enjoy watching them all. I also spend as much time as I can with my grandchildren, Alex, Sowma and Lukas, and I love taking my family out for meals and my wife on holiday.
What are you currently reading, listening to or glued to on the TV?
Emmerdale – I love watching Cain Dingle.
What do you waste your money on?
I never waste money.
How would your friends describe you?
I hope, kind, caring and considerate
What would your enemies say about you?
Soft at heart but not in the head – but I don’t really care what they say.
What do you drive and dream of driving?
I already drive my dream car, a new Range Rover Vogue, but I would love to have a luxury yacht in Marbella.