Dave is the third generation of his family to run a business in the construction industry: His grandfather brought modern timber-frame techniques to Scotland from Canada after the Second World War, and his father built the business into a supplier of Scandinavian kit homes. It was on those homes that Dave first gained experience of the products that Gondwana sells and installs today.
“I started working for my father aged 12, labouring, digging, loading scaffolding and bricks – all the good stuff! – it put me off construction,” says Dave.
Wanting to forge his own way in the world and wary of the construction industry itself, he went to Napier University in Edinburgh and spent several years abroad, including a stint in Holland, Belgium and Germany fitting swimming pools that were heated by a variety of cunning and sustainable means: solar thermal, thermal storage systems, masonry stoves and biomass burners among them.
He has been building on that experience ever since, and has installed hundreds of systems all over the UK. Still fascinated by heating and sustainable technology, Dave never tires of learning and enjoys regular trips to visit his suppliers in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Italy to learn about the latest products and techniques.