Diana Matthews is chairman of Rayrigg Estates in Windermere which has been building homes for local people since the 1850s. She tells Michaela Robinson-Tate about being rooted in the community

When Diana Matthews was growing up the idea that she might one day take over the family business was never discussed.

“I was a girl and girls weren’t thought to be able to do anything with the business,” she says.

Much later, her marriage to her late husband, David, who was an architect, was the catalyst for Diana to return to Cumbria and join the business. Working at first alongside her father, George, Diana and David eventually took over running the company.

Rayrigg Estates builds and lets houses for rent to local people. David, who died last year, looked after design and build and Diana oversaw everything else.

When she and David first came back to Cumbria, Diana says they brought a more modern approach to the business: “When we moved up here from London, we went straight from leather-bound ledgers to computers. It was quite a thing for my father to suddenly see this massive change take place.”

Although George stepped back from the business in the Eighties, he was fully occupied running the Windermere Steamboat Museum, which he’d founded in 1977. In 2007 the charity was handed over to Lakeland Arts which is redeveloping the museum.

Diana says there are upsides and downsides to running a family company: “Continuity is probably the main advantage. You work all the hours that there are - you don’t do a nine to five, you do whatever is needed.”

The business has been established in Windermere since the 1850s but the family has Viking roots and, in fact, the firm’s history stretches back to the 16th century and possibly earlier. Matterdale Church is the earliest Pattinson family building project that’s been identified.

Diana says that the Windermere business was set up to provide houses for wallers and joiners so that they could come to the area to work on housebuilding projects.

Over the years, the firm has provided apprenticeships which have enabled many tradesmen to go on and start their own businesses.

A number of families have worked with Pattinsons for five or six generations.

Being established for so long in one place is an advantage, Diana says, because people come to trust you: “There’s a good sense of community and because you’ve been there a while, people know what your ethics are and that you would want to do right by them.”

For Diana, who has been a magistrate for 33 years and who served as High Sheriff of Cumbria from 2013 to 2014, running a business has always gone hand in hand with community projects. Her father had founded an almshouses charity, Cooper Pattinson’s Trust Homes, in memory of his father, T Cooper Pattinson, and Diana has been the lead trustee for 30 years.

Diana and David’s son, Monty, who has been working as a senior social work practitioner and is a multi-linguist, has come back to Cumbria and is learning what’s involved in running Rayrigg Estates. He has become a trustee of the almshouses, something for which his social work skills stand him in good stead.

Monty’s sister, Rachael, who lives in London and is a textile artist, writer and curator, has helped with some of the firm’s charity work and in due course will also become more involved with the business.

Diana is delighted that the family involvement will continue but says it’s always been up to Monty and Rachael: “If they want to be involved that’s great but I would never force it.”

David’s last project for Rayrigg Estates was a pair of virtually carbon-neutral eco houses in Windermere, designed to blend into the woodland setting. Since David’s death, Diana says she’s had plenty of help from other architects.

Asking for help from colleagues and experts is a principle she’s followed throughout her business career: “It’s much better to ask than make a mistake - mistakes are expensive.”

She also says it’s important to query something that doesn’t feel right. For example, on a building site, if she doesn’t think that a she she doesn’t think that the building material is the correct type then she’ll check rather than assume.

Another tip is to take time over a decision: “It’s always worth just sitting on an idea before doing something. Your instant reaction isn’t always the best. You need to stand back and check it’s not just an off-the-cuff idea - it’s got to work.”

She also says it’s important to seek professional advice. She works with Armstrong Watson on financial planning and with advisers across the firm’s offices - Carlisle for the almshouses, Penrith for inheritance and strategic planning and Kendal for pensions, company and personal taxation.

She also uses three firms of solicitors, tapping into their different areas of expertise.

More than anything, she says that she would advise someone starting out in business to take on a job even if it feels scary and they think they’ll be out of their depth. If colleagues think that you can do something then it’s a good idea to trust their judgement.

It’s a principle Diana has applied to jobs such as being Chairman of a Bench of Magistrates and serving as High Sheriff.

“We all need to be stretched. It’s very easy to hide in one’s shell and say that’s not for me but actually someone’s got to do it and there are usually ways of making it possible.”

Finally she says that having a sense of humour helps. One day many years ago, her secretary told her that there were three “really angry men” waiting in reception to see her.

Diana said she’d take them into a meeting room and if she wasn’t back in 10 minutes to come and rescue her: “I said to them, how nice, I’ve got three men all to myself for 10 minutes.”

By making a light-hearted remark she managed to diffuse the situation: “I didn’t need to be rescued.”

Diana’s tips for business

  • Ask for help rather than make a potentially expensive mistake.
  • If something in your business doesn’t feel right, then check it out rather than assume.
  • Communication is key: “If things don’t work, it’s usually down to communication.”
  • It’s worth taking time over a decision.
  • If you’ve got to take a tough decision, be upfront.
  • Take professional advice and use different advisers depending on their expertise.
  • Take on a job even if you feel scared or out of your depth - there’s always a way to do it.
  • Use humour - when appropriate - to diffuse a situation.