Ex-fitness chief given task of keeping rental firm in shape

02/11/2007


Steven Currie has been appointed to head the Edinburgh operation of D.J. Alexander, the residential letting and estate agency, which has more than 3,000 properties under management in the capital.

Mr Currie, who has worked with the firm for seven years, will take up his post on 1 July, when the proprietor, David Alexander, officially moves to London to prepare the opening of an office in the UK capital, which is anticipated in the autumn. Mr Alexander is expected to remain in London for several years to oversee development of the operation

Aged 29, Mr Currie previously worked in the hotel leisure and fitness industry before moving into property. A qualified fitness instructor, he became manager of the leisure club of the Capital Moat House Hotel in Edinburgh at the age of 19. He later held similar posts at the Caledonian Hilton in Princes Street and the Macdonald Hotel at Holyrood.

Mr Currie said that his appointment had come “at an exciting time both for the firm and for Edinburgh”. He continued: “Demand for rented accommodation is greater just now than at any time I can remember in the last seven years. One of our senior representatives, Phil Strathie, let no less than 54 properties single-handedly in May.

“But the agency market is very competitive and one of my first tasks will be to fine-tune our attitude to post-letting customer care. Statistical and anecdotal evidence clearly shows this is what our type of client wants in preference to a cut-price service.”

D.J. Alexander celebrates a quarter of a century in business later this year. It also has an office in Glasgow and in April launched an office in Dubai – the first Scottish company of its kind to do so.

Edinburgh Evening News