Dundee businessman John Alexander has achieved great things in his 42 years and is now gearing up for perhaps his biggest challenge yet.
The boy from Kirkton has already overcome undiagnosed dyslexia and poor school grades to establish Alexander Decorators as one of the city’s largest painter and decorator firms after more than 20 years in business.
In recent years he has stepped up a gear, setting up Alexander Community Development (ACD) in February 2019 “to give back” to Dundee.
ACD enables retired tradespeople to share their skills with youngsters, gives young people a chance to learn a trade and distributes food for the needy.
John has also begun a business training scheme specialising in construction and health and safety, while investing in a Dundee garage that repairs plant machinery and vehicles, including custom builds.
But arguably his most ambitious project is still to come.
John is seeking a community asset transfer to convert an old Victorian school in Mitchell Street into a “huge” community campus.
“I am looking to create a huge community campus covering all sectors – such as hairdressing, media, gaming – and I want other business leaders to join me,” says the Downfield resident.
“We have further education and higher education but this would be community education with short duration courses to give people a taste of what they can do.”
In this interview John reveals how his experiences growing up have shaped him to become one of Dundee’s prominent businessmen.
He also outlines in more detail his campus proposal, discusses his childhood in Kirkton and his motivation to succeed in business while helping Dundee’s young and underprivileged.
The feature is divided into the following sections:
- Growing up in Kirkton
- Early struggles
- Establishing the business
- Community campus idea
- Future plans
Growing up in Kirkton
John’s core values – hard work and helping others – echo those of his parents.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s his mother Mary ran a fruit and veg shop at Haldane Avenue, close to St Columba’s Primary School.
“On the Kirkton scheme there was a lot of poverty and mum’s shop was the place to go,” John says.
“It was the heart of the community and people, including the local gangs, used to come in and have a lot of banter.
“I think mum gave away more fruit and veg than she sold!
“She cared so much about people that if they were struggling, perhaps due to substance abuse, she would let them stay in the house for three months.”
‘I have mum’s big heart and dad’s work ethic’
If John inherited Mary’s caring side, he also emulated his father John’s industriousness.
John held down two jobs – a binman for Dundee City Council during the week, a delivery driver at weekends – and he would also drive to Glasgow four times a week to pick up fruit and vegetables for his wife’s business.
“I have mum’s big heart and dad’s work ethic,” says John, who wakes up every day at 5am. “I am always hungry to achieve.”
Early struggles
John had a tough time at Lawside Academy due to undiagnosed dyslexia.
“I struggled to read and write because I had dyslexia so it was hard growing up,” he says.
“I was taken out of school for special classes.
“I didn’t get great grades.”
‘He said I might lose my job if I didn’t knuckle down’
He left school at 15 and enrolled on a four-year apprenticeship with Dundee City Council to be a painter and decorator.
“At the start of year two I got up to a lot of mischief,” he recalls. “I was a wee chap with red hair so easy to identify!”
In a meeting with Sandy Brankin, who ran Dundee council’s decorating division, John was delivered some home truths.
“He said I might lose my job if I didn’t knuckle down,” John says. “That was a lightbulb moment.
“Sandy was hard but fair. He was a lovely man and there is a photo of me and him at the front of my yard.”
The following year, John won the Bill McKay Trophy as the council’s apprentice of the year.
Establishing the business
In 2001, when John had completed his apprenticeship, he established Alexander Decorations.
His only asset was a Bedford van given to him by his father. “It still had the council’s logo on it,” John says.
Within seven years he had established the business as a market leader in the city with 50 staff employed.
“The financial crash of 2008 meant we had to downsize,” he says. “We reduced the workforce to 25 which is where we still are now.”
‘I had been working on this for 10 years’
From its earliest days Alexander Decorations took on apprentices and worked with Dundee schools to offer work experience.
John also continued to learn, enrolling in a charity programme with The Circle Academy.
By 2019 he was ready to put his skills into practice and set up Alexander Community Development (ACD), with three main strands to its work:
- The Transition to Trade programme, providing young people with opportunities to learn trades in a safe environment through a six-week out of school placement. More than 120 people aged between 16 and 50 have been put through the programme, which involves a collaboration with the Job Centre and the Discovery Opportunities Centre.
- A Food distribution project that works with food banks and charities by taking delivery, organising and distributing food and key items to some of Dundee’s most vulnerable residents. More than 1.4million tonnes of food has been distributed.
- A Trades for All project that offers opportunities for retired tradespeople to share their skills with young people. The aim is to help more than 50 apprentices.
“I had been working on this for 10 years,” John says. “I had become a health and safety consultant and a qualified first-aider.
“A lot of people have the attitude that they can’t do something but I thought I should turn my hand to everything I needed to know.”
‘Every day I spend 10 minutes doing a goal map’
Also in 2019, John set up Advanced Training Solutions (ATS), which provides training to small and medium-sized businesses in construction and health and safety.
He additionally has an investment in Dundee garage Froggy’s Chop Shop, which repairs plant machinery and vehicles, including custom builds.
“I am also a life coach for Brian Mayne, training his package online. This helps show people how to reach their goals.
“It also helps me. Every day I spend 10 minutes doing a goal map on health, finance and other areas, including gratitude.”
Community campus idea
John’s next goal is to set up a community campus in Dundee.
He is seeking a community asset transfer to convert an old Victorian school in Mitchell Street into a “huge” community campus.
“I am looking to create a huge community campus covering all sectors – such as hairdressing, media, gaming – and I want other business leaders to join me,” says the Downfield resident.
“We have further education and higher education but this would be community education with short duration courses to give people a taste of what they can do.”
‘There is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing’
John is calling for at least eight businesses from all sectors to join the initiative, which he would also like to include a 30-seat cafe that could be used for hospitality courses.
“I am proud of being from Dundee and want to bring together others from the city for this.
“Dundee City Council owns the building so I am trying to get a community asset transfer.
“There is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing at the moment.
“We have two or three people who are interested and we are looking for big companies who want to give something back after two years of Covid.
“If we have people in Dundee with good jobs and earning good wages they are going to spend their money in the city and rejuvenate the city.”
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on individual applications.”
Future plans
John admits that diversifying into different areas means he will have to look again at his decorating business.
“I am dedicating a lot of time to the charity and I don’t have as much to do with the decorating – the management team run it,” he says.
“We might do a staff buyout as some of the team have been there 18 years and it would be a reward for them.
“I would give them a share option in the next two to three years.”
‘I need to keep my mind active’
With so much going on, John somehow finds a way to pursue hobbies and spend time with his children.
He is father to Josh, 21, who works for Alexander Decorators; Ellie, 18, who is currently employed by Starbucks and is eyeing a holiday rep job in Ayia Napa; and John Lewis, 16.
“I like snowboarding and I have just taken up the saxophone,” John says. “Because I also do a lot of work with the Alzheimer’s Society I am aware that I need to keep my mind active.
“There have been a lot of hard times and it’s not been easy, but if it was easy then everyone would be running their own business.
“The fear factor keeps people in the 9-5 world but 95% of people are followers and don’t want to step outside the box.”
