A prominent entrepreneur behind the business which has dominated Scotland’s office equipment sector for over 40 years has died.
Tom Flockhart was 73.
The father-of-four lost a short battle with cancer. He is survived by his four children Pamela, Stuart, Neil and Lynsey, seven grandchildren, and his partner Mandy.
Flockhart was proud of his modest roots as an adopted child growing up in a council house in Prestonpans, East Lothian. He credited his upbringing and his school years at Preston Lodge High School with giving him the drive to go on and build Capital Document Solutions – the company he founded in 1979.
Lynn Harrison, his personal assistant for the past 17 years, said: “We are all in shock, to describe him as larger than life doesn’t do him justice. He was passionate, driven and once you met him, you certainly couldn’t forget him.”
From a young age, Flockhart showed an entrepreneurial streak, working schoolboy jobs including gardening, paper rounds, fixing up old bikes and even selling sweets and haircuts to the other children in school.
He went on to complete an apprenticeship at Ferranti and gained an HND in mechanical engineering and would often jokingly recall how during his apprenticeship he was given his most important career advice when his boss advised him to get a job in sales. In 1970, he took that advice, securing a role with 3M selling photocopiers.
By the age of 30, Flockhart had been 3M’s top copier salesman in the UK for three successive years and was determined to strike out on his own. Using part of the proceeds from a house sale, he set up his own business, initially called Capital Copying Services in a small office in Montrose Terrace, Edinburgh, and based on three abiding principles – “the best products, the best advice and the best after sales service and support”.
As it grew over 43 years from just three staff to more than 200 employees, the firm’s name changed a few times to reflect the changes in the market and the wider range of products and services the business was providing.
Capital Document Solutions is now Scotland’s largest independent supplier of office technology and a major employer, with bases in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, and Lerwick in the Shetland Islands.
Harrison said: “He was working right up until the end, still going over documents and putting in his thoughts and ideas for a Scottish Government tender.”
Ironically, those tender documents were part of the firm’s work on the Scottish Procurement Framework Agreement for Office Equipment – which only came into existence in 2009 after extensive lobbying by Flockhart. He demonstrated how Scottish-based firms were unable to bid for Scottish public sector contracts, leading to a change by the Scottish Government.
In the 1990s, Flockhart also played a role in cleaning up the office equipment sector which was rife with bad practice and customer dissatisfaction. He worked with Edinburgh MP Nigel Griffiths to expose a scam in the copier sector, which led to finance and leasing reforms and gave greater control and clarity to customers.
Harrison added: “For all of these reasons, even competitors are saddened by his loss as no-one could fail to respect what he did for the whole sector.
“Whether networking with business leaders, going back to Preston Lodge to give talks to pupils, or running training for new salespeople, he was incredibly generous in giving his time and sharing his experiences.
“He never held back on that because he wanted people to get on, to have the tools to better themselves.
“He was never jealous or begrudged other people their success - he really admired people doing well - he was an outstanding motivator who helped shape the lives of so many people in so many different ways.”
Fishing was a great passion of his. With many parallels to his business life, Flockhart stuck at it even in the most unfavourable conditions and when other people had given up, he eventually succeeded.
He was also generous with his philanthropic activities, both financially and through the network of connections he was willing to share, but remained low key about his support of many projects and causes over the decades.
Flockhart was passionate about his backing of the arts in Scotland, which saw him actively support the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Edinburgh International Festival, Scottish Opera, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Tom’s funeral will be held at Warriston Crematorium at 12pm on 10 May, followed by a celebration of his life at Prestonfield House Hotel from 2pm. Family flowers only.
His family have set up a special email address to collect memories of him – 90TFmemories@gmail.com.