This week we’ll be focusing on Douglas Reid, our Managing Director, and providing a little insight into their everyday at Here’s The Plan.

Here’s The Plan was formed from the recent merger of MDG Group and European Utility Consultants, and as the founder of MDG Group back in 1998 I was, for a period, a one man band – responsible for all aspects of running and growing the business. Since then we have built a team of great people to take on specific roles which should, in theory, allow me to work more ‘on the business’ rather than ‘in the business’. In practice this often proves difficult, especially since in addition to my main role as Managing Director, I am also responsible for the Finance Director and HR Director functions.

I therefore get involved from time to time in crunching the numbers, but rely very heavily on Kay, our Finance Manager, as well as friends still in the Accountancy profession, whose brains I pick on a regular basis. I started my career in the Accountancy profession as a Chartered Accountant with PWC and Deloitte, but recently I get less and less time to get involved in this area, an area which I still really enjoy.

My role in HR involves recruitment – it is so important to try and get that bit right. With the right people you can do anything, and recruiting people who are far smarter than you are is a definite recipe for success.

My main role is as Managing Director and this involves putting in place everything that the team need to run and grow a successful business, helping design the business strategy going forward and making sure that the right systems are in place, whilst monitoring and measuring progress. I love this part of the job – it’s sometimes difficult to see progress being made when operating at the sharp end of the business, but when I take time to look back and see how far we have come, then that’s when I get a real buzz.