Mark Interviews The Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire David Laing

06/22/22 • 65 min

In this episode Mark interviews The Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire. Mr David Laing of Laing Construction, whose illustrious career spans several decades. Mark makes this episode become a very open discussion between two entrepreneurs from very different periods.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

(5.00) David Laing’s business history intrigues Mark. He asks David about the construction dynasty which started in 1845.David Laing tells us how he was on his way up to Edinburgh recently when they stopped off at Gretna. This made David think about how his Grandfather and his Grandfathers father had been responsible for building the town. Gretna was set up as one of the main munitions factories during the 1st world war. He goes on to tell us about how they built miles of factories and accommodation for 50,000 workers.
(7.12) David Laing continues to tell Mark about the growth of Laing’, how the expertise in concrete continued and how they built the M1 he discusses all of the buildings, bridges and so on through this period which included the Millennium dome. Mark and David discuss the benefits of the Dome.
(25.52) Mark probes David’s outlook on politics by asking David to pick up on a thread from earlier in the conversation. Mark outlines concerns within the community if The Labour Party came into power. David Laing gives a considered reply by covering the various dangers of inflation, profit, tax and the probability of who would be the front man for Labour. The discussion goes on too looking at trade generally covering Brexit, Donald Trump and the world.
(37.25) Mark asks David Laing where we are in regards to Cycles/Timing. David says we are still in the fairly golden times at present, property is still rising and there is a lack of housing, he advises that it could be a couple of years time when Brexit and /or Corbyn could be the triggers for change, so try to keep within you borrowing limit, retail is definitely not an option for profitability.
(45.40) After a brief discussion on gearing, covenants and the percentages obtained, Mark moves the interview away from business and asks David “what do you do for Her Majesty?” Davis Laing is her Lord Lieutenant. David sees this post as the eyes, ears, heart and temperature control of the county. This means he needs to know what is good bad and needs fixing, although it is a non-political role, he tells us that he is there to do whatever Her Majesty is not able to do. He is involved in the military on her behalf and holds the equivalent rank of Major General. Many of his duties include visiting schools to support them, helping with the scouts and brownies.

(1.01) Mark examines David Laing’s fascination with cars and racing, and the crash at Silverstone in 2006. David talks about all the various racing cars he either has driven or admired and his more recent experience driving around the world circumference in 69 days with Mary as his navigator. He runs through the various countries they drove over, so we are able to imagine how it must have felt driving 11 hours a day in all those locations.

BEST MOMENTS

David Laing tells us that “timing is always the most important thing in the business”
David Laing’s knowledge of changes in government gives us a sound grounding for preparing how to deal with the future.
David and Mark look at the impact of homelessness on cities and how it can be approached going forward.
Mark asks David about the difficulties in obtaining finance in the past and how it compares with today’s financing
Building the M1 had an advantage for David Laing he had just started courting his wife up in Leicester and it meant they didn’t have to drive up the A5 and A6 anymore!

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark Homer is an entrepreneur investor. He has worked with investment since he was 15 years old using the laws of wealth! He is a spreadsheet analyst with an impressive following from major publications including BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, as well as co-authoring the UK’s best selling property books. Mark has always looked for the best investment vehicle, and at the end of 2007 with Rob Moore the co-founder of Progressive Property his joint portfolio produced more profit than any of his other investments he’d tried in the last ten years, combined.

CONTACT THE HOST

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive
Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

ABOUT THE GUEST

The Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire. David Laing is a man of principle who has worked hard through his life in the construction industry through architecture design and construction, and appears to have enjoyed all the good and disagreeable parts of...

KEY TAKEAWAYS

(5.00) David Laing’s business history intrigues Mark. He asks David about the construction dynasty which started in 1845.David Laing tells us how he was on his way up to Edinburgh recently when they stopped off at Gretna. This made David think about how his Grandfather and his Grandfathers father had been responsible for building the town. Gretna was set up as one of the main munitions factories during the 1st world war. He goes on to tell us about how they built miles of factories and accommodation for 50,000 workers.
(7.12) David Laing continues to tell Mark about the growth of Laing’, how the expertise in concrete continued and how they built the M1 he discusses all of the buildings, bridges and so on through this period which included the Millennium dome. Mark and David discuss the benefits of the Dome.
(25.52) Mark probes David’s outlook on politics by asking David to pick up on a thread from earlier in the conversation. Mark outlines concerns within the community if The Labour Party came into power. David Laing gives a considered reply by covering the various dangers of inflation, profit, tax and the probability of who would be the front man for Labour. The discussion goes on too looking at trade generally covering Brexit, Donald Trump and the world.
(37.25) Mark asks David Laing where we are in regards to Cycles/Timing. David says we are still in the fairly golden times at present, property is still rising and there is a lack of housing, he advises that it could be a couple of years time when Brexit and /or Corbyn could be the triggers for change, so try to keep within you borrowing limit, retail is definitely not an option for profitability.
(45.40) After a brief discussion on gearing, covenants and the percentages obtained, Mark moves the interview away from business and asks David “what do you do for Her Majesty?” Davis Laing is her Lord Lieutenant. David sees this post as the eyes, ears, heart and temperature control of the county. This means he needs to know what is good bad and needs fixing, although it is a non-political role, he tells us that he is there to do whatever Her Majesty is not able to do. He is involved in the military on her behalf and holds the equivalent rank of Major General. Many of his duties include visiting schools to support them, helping with the scouts and brownies.

BEST MOMENTS

David Laing tells us that “timing is always the most important thing in the business”
David Laing’s knowledge of changes in government gives us a sound grounding for preparing how to deal with the future.
David and Mark look at the impact of homelessness on cities and how it can be approached going forward.
Mark asks David about the difficulties in obtaining finance in the past and how it compares with today’s financing
Building the M1 had an advantage for David Laing he had just started courting his wife up in Leicester and it meant they didn’t have to drive up the A5 and A6 anymore!

ABOUT THE HOST

CONTACT THE HOST

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive
Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

ABOUT THE GUEST

Previous Episode

Alfie Best: Going From Broke to Billionaire Empire

How do you create a successful business and solve the housing crisis at the same time? Well, Alfie Best has one of the most innovative answers out there at the minute. The owner of Wildcrest, which is the biggest Mobile Park operator in the UK, soon to be the world. In this interview, Mark asks Alfie, how he started out in the industry, what the mechanics of the industry are and why Alfie believes they are the answer to the housing crisis in affordable houses currently? Listen to one of the most successful business people in the UK and what his advice is on creating a successful business in 2019.

Key Takeaways

Why did you get into the Mobile Park Industry? I was born and bred in a caravan as a Romani. Who better to run Mobile Parks than someone who has lived and breathed this world throughout my life. It was a natural progression for us from commercial conversions. I really believe in them, and I’m passionate about my business, I don’t really see it as work.

How does the mechanics of the business work? It’s not complicated the customer actually purchases the mobile home often for 50% of what the same property would be if it was classed as a house. They get a 1983 mobile home act document drafted from the government which is an infinite lease on the property. It has no end date. It’s a simple but powerful document. You are in effect purchasing a bungalow at residential standards which are pre-fabricated. It’s like a timbre home from the states or modular homes which you see popping in different places. They have to be built on a chassis and have wheels, but they never get moved.

How does it benefit you to have a mobile home? Once it doesn’t have wheels and a chassis it becomes a house. If we have planning permission for a mobile home park then we can’t build houses. It’s classified as a caravan but it is never towed or moved anywhere else, it’s essentially static.

We all need to find our niche. I don’t regard this as a niche, we than 13,000 residents as a country and we have 5 parks in North Carolina. We are looking to expand our business in the US. Councils are still of the opinion to say no, it's not seen as a positive to support our kind of business. Sensible government is a friend often but councillors can be really difficult to work with and can go against what the government have set down.

How do you cope with working across different continents and countries? Have you found it challenging? When you start a business anywhere in the world, you have to pay an ‘idiot’ tax which is about learning to run your business. I always say that you should start small so your ‘idiot’ tax is a much smaller cost. When we first went to America we only bought one home. A business has to be like water, it has to flow and change but be strong enough to keep going forward.

Why is it that mobile home parks are the answer to affordable housing? It’s very simple. The government are trying to build their way out through social housing. As there is no cap on it and they have to compete on the open market it’s never going to solve the problem. We don’t offer houses for key workers like ambulance staff for example. Properties should only be able to be sold to key workers in key sectors. Whereas park homes only ever stay as affordable housing, always at 50% less than a house even when the price goes up it's always comparatively cheaper. That’s because there is a stigma to it.

Most of our customers are downsizing. A lot of our customers are buying a mobile home and then buying a second home in Spain or the US. Houses don’t have to be a ball and chain around their neck, it allows people freedom in older age. We are trying to lobby the government to explain this. There are some great councils and are some terrible councils.

We are bringing people who are semi-retired or retired people to an area. So we are actually bringing other families as well. We are helping social housing as well as contributing to communities. I hate the word social housing but I think of it as affordable housing.

What have been your biggest setbacks in business? The biggest set back was not questioning myself too much when I nearly went bust. Broke means that you are in negative equity, and verging on either going bankrupt which is where I found myself. I had a house with too big a mortgage invested in it. My biggest mistake was I didn’t see the recession coming because I wasn’t experienced enough. I thought I was better than I was.

How have you changed this ready for the next recession? We have stopped looking at profit and concentrated on cash flow. My board loves talking about profit, but I focus on cash flow. The cash flow could be in the red but your profits look great. It’s a balancing ...

Next Episode

Mark Interviews Business Angel Nelson Gray

Angel investor Nelson Gray talks about investing in tech start-up businesses. How he chooses the right company to invest in, what is his strategy and the whole process of investing in a new, small company. Upsides and downsides of investing in start-ups, what is his experience working with company founders and tips for investors that are interested in financing new businesses.

ABOUT THE HOST

CONTACT THE HOST