Interview: Alyson Donaldson, finance chief at Fife-based timber and construction supplier Donaldson Group

Most 13-year-olds considering what they would like to be when they grow up would choose, stay, stadium-filling pop star or footballer.

But not Alyson Donaldson, who knew at that age that she wanted to be a finance director, something she acknowledges with a laugh is a somewhat “unusual” ambition. “I just found a love at school of finance and numbers – it's all very logical and makes sense, and just kind of clicked with the way that my brain worked.”

She has realised her dream right from studying accounting and economics at university about two decades ago to her latest role, last month taking the group chief financial officer (CFO) reins at independent timber and construction supplier Donaldson Group, which is headquartered in Glenrothes, Fife.

It can trace its roots back to 1860, starting life as a timber merchant in Tayport and run by James Donaldson along with his sons James and George. The group operates throughout the UK now from about 50 locations with more than 1,700 staff, and comprises 16 specialist timber and building product businesses and brands, boosted by acquisitions including that of Stewart Milne Timber Systems in 2021 that was rebranded as Donaldson Timber Systems.

The entire group last year rebranded from James Donaldson & Sons, and in its last full financial year, ending September 30, 2022, it turned over just shy of £400m, up from about £234m in the prior 12 months, while pre-tax profit on ordinary activities grew to £19.5 million from £18m. Its progress comes amid forestry and timber processing having been found to add £771m to the Scottish economy every year, while the World Bank believes global timber demand will quadruple by 2050.

Alyson is the first female Donaldson family member to join the company in an executive and board role in its history, having become part of the “dynasty” via husband Andrew, who is the firm’s sixth-generation chief executive. She explains that she joined from global veterinary care giant IVC Evidensia, where she was chief financial officer for the UK and Ireland, having been promoted to that role after holding the same title at the firm’s major subsidiary Vets Now.

Prior to this she spent eight years in senior finance and strategy roles at Johnnie Walker-making drinks giant Diageo, latterly as finance director, international supply, saying this was “definitely a big training ground”. When the opportunity came up to take on her current post, “I had all the right experience to bring into the company. And I felt like it was just kind of perfect timing, from my background, but also the fact that it's a very personal thing to come and join the family business.”

She had looking for an organisation focused less on short-term results that can be the modus operandi of public or private equity-led firms, and more on a long-term sustainable model. The executive praises the family business model of having people and community at its heart, and able to “really add a significant amount to the economy”.

The CFO now wants to ensure that all brands in the group 'are all fully integrated into the business, that they feel connected as one Donaldson family'. Picture: contributed.

It has been calculated that there are more than 280,000 such firms in Scotland, while a survey has revealed that the British public find family-run businesses to be the most trustworthy companies (25.4 per cent) when compared to PLCs (14.7 per cent), private equity backed-companies (9.8 per cent), and venture capital firms (7.6 per cent).

Alyson now wants to ensure that all the brands in the group “are all fully integrated into the business, that we can optimise them, that they feel connected as one Donaldson family”. She adds: “How do we really embed that and make it a really stable and secure business, especially given current trading environments and economics on interest rates, mortgage rates, and inflation – they’re all headwinds that we're going need to get through.”

She cites the uncertain outlook for the property market, although stresses the group’s underlying strength, and confidence longer term that timber's increasingly appealing strong green credentials stand it in good stead along with its diversified portfolio of businesses. “We’re just trying to make sure we understand the risks, and also the opportunities, and be ready for them, so not making short-term decisions that will impact us in the longer term.”

And after a flurry of acquisitions by the group, she says it is not actively seeking out more, but isn’t closing its eyes entirely to the possibility either, with deals that would diversify its portfolio and/or provide international expansion in, say, the US and Australia, of most interest.

The group's businesses include Donaldson Timber Systems, the rebranded identity of Stewart Milne Timber Systems that it acquired in 2021. Picture: contributed.

More immediately, key priorities of hers include driving sustainability and diversity. The latter includes a focus on improving gender representation particularly on the manufacturing side, with a focus on finding and eliminating relevant barriers, and coming as she has served as a trustee of The Young Women’s Movement, Scotland’s national organisation for young women’s feminist leadership and collective action against gender inequality.

Her role in making key decisions about company strategy and delivering business growth is the culmination of her own long-mapped-out career trajectory, saying her “ultimate goal has always been ‘go to a medium-sized firm and get that end-to-end holistic view as a CFO’”.

Another earlier-stage career goal she wanted to tick off was working for one of the “Big Four” accountancy firms, and did so by starting her career at KPMG on its graduate training programme, where she met husband Andrew. As for working with her spouse now, she is reassured by the fact they have successfully worked together previously, and also spent a year travelling together, another “good test of how well you can get on under a strained environment”.

She also laughs that in her new role she is getting to grips with learning about the differences between various kind of joists. But in broader, more strategic terms, she is “really excited about the future, what we can do in the business... it feels like I've made the right choice already”.