A mantra by which this investor has run his property business and portfolio is; "If you keep your eye on the pitch and not on the scoreboard then you won't go far wrong", and it has served him well. Gordon Campbell won the Landlord and Letting's show Landlord of the Year award two years running whilst remaining rather conservative when it comes to loan to value levels. Like many he started his property journey as soon as he could afford to.

"I bought my first property in 1990 at the age of twenty two when interest rates were about 15%. I bought it as it was the 'thing to do' and renting wasn't really a big thing back then. I also wanted to own my own place and make it my home. I remember thinking it was a huge commitment and the monthly costs of the mortgage seemed enormous as well as all the emotions you go through buying your first property, but it was all worth it in the end."

Gordon pursued a successful corporate career working his way up to UK National Sales Director for a large global company. Like many investors the possibility of renting property came about when he met his significant other. "In 1994 I bought my second property to live in and I met my wife during that time and she also had her own property. We decided to buy our first house together which meant that we were in a position to rent the houses out and that was the start of owning property and renting it out."

Like many investors Gordon and his wife now had the bug when it came to property. "From being able to own and rent out the properties my wife and I owned and also buying our first house to live in together in 1998 we were able to see that it was a good form of long term investment. It was a good source of residual income every month and there was strong rental demand and property prices were rising."