Cupar is all about those who make up the town – its people, the businesses, our community organisations, schools, college and more. We love to showcase the business talent through this Blog. As we’re heading into our Financial Wellbeing Fortnight, we thought who better for the latest in our KnowHow series than Roland W Scott, the practice principal at RWS Financial Consultants. We caught up with Roland to discover more …

Roland was born in Kirkcaldy in 1964. He attended Kirkcaldy High School, leaving in 1980. “I got my first job on a YTS scheme as an apprentice Partsman, working my way through the ranks to become the youngest Parts Manager in the UK for Volvo.”

Roland seemed destined to a career in the motor trade. In 1987, he moved to Dundee to take a role as After Sales Manager with Nissan UK but life is full of fateful twists and turns and, after spending 12 years in the motor industry he and his partner, Maria, were made redundant on the same day.

“It was in 1991 – just three days before Christmas. Maria landed a new job after the new year and phoned me to say that she’d arranged an interview – not in the car trade but with Prudential Assurance Company.”

So why the switch to insurance? “Maria told me that it was based on a conversation she’d had with my mother about me always wanting to be an insurance man when I was a child! I did the interview and never looked back.”

Through his decade in insurance, he started planning his next change, saying: “I have always had a desire to have my own business.” His work in the motor trade gave him the grounding he needed on all matters relating to customer care – “the experience of looking after clients’ best needs.” His next step – into Financial Services – was made all the easier because of that valuable experience.

RWS Financial Consultants was launched in April 1997 in Dundee and moved to Cupar in July 2002.  More than 18 years on, what makes RWS tick? Roland explains: “I have always thought of RWS Financial as a family-run business. My partner, Maria, and two elder sisters, Andrewina and Linda, are involved in the day-to-day looking administration.” He adds: “Unlike traditional banks or building societies, we work around our clients’ needs. We visit them at their place of work or home – 9am-9pm, seven days a week.” As a result of their customer care, the business has grown on referral with clients recommending RWS to friends and family.

Roland is very proud to work with many local solicitors and estate agents, saying: “They have put their trust in us to look after their clients throughout North East Fife.”

As we enter 2021, the business employs seven people – including Douglas Hume. Roland says: “My father’s motto was always ‘if you want something you have to earn it’. When I joined Prudential Assurance Company ’92, Douglas was my first manager. He reminded me so much of my father and trained me to know that if you look after others, they will look after you. Twenty nine years on, at the age of 68, Douglas is still working with us and is as enthusiastic as he was the first day I met him.”

Today, Roland lives with Maria. His time away from work sees him caravanning, dabbling in all things related to classic cars as well as charity work.The company has a second arm – RWS Property Management – which is a portfolio of personal rental properties in Fife, Dundee, Angus and Perthshire.

Looking back on his career, we asked Roland what have been his greatest achievements. He recalls his time with the Prudential Assurance company, saying: “I was given an award for outstanding customer care after receiving feedback from my client portfolio of pension, investment and mortgage clients. This award allowed me to progress to become a Management Consultant and subsequently made my mind up to start my own business the following year.” Roland adds: “With the help of family, Adviser loyalty and most of all the loyalty of my existing clients, I see a great future for the younger Advisers within the practice taking on the reins in years to come and continuing to watch their development as others have followed mine.”

As with all who feature on our Blog profiles, we asked what Roland would recommend to anyone visiting Cupar for the first time – or for the first time in a long time: “On foot … take a few hours to walk around the town. It is amazing how many eateries, small family-run shops and historical buildings there are to visit and see. For anyone thinking of moving to Cupar, there are great opportunities for education and recreation and the town is surrounded by countryside with some amazing walks and views.”

 

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