Fife property guru's unlikely friendship with billionaire Richard Branson

The Courier

7 days ago

A Fife property guru has struck up an unlikely relationship with billionaire Richard Branson.
Jim Parker owns the estate and lettings agency Fife Properties and has his own portfolio of rental properties.
For the past two years he and his wife Elaine have holidayed on Necker Island, the private Caribbean island where Branson lives.
'We first went out in November 2023 and again in November 2024,' he says over a morning coffee in a Leven cafe. 'And we're planning to go again this November.'
Theoretically anyone can book a holiday on Necker Island but Jim says in practice it's not that simple.
'At certain times of the year you can book accommodation there,' he continues. 'But it's quite difficult. You message and then it takes ages for them to come back to you.
'I'm certain that behind the scenes they're doing a lot of vetting and looking into your background. If they don't like what they see I'm pretty sure you get told there's no availability.
'Plus staying there costs from $6,000 a night, which not everyone can afford.'
Jim, 58, was born in Newport but grew up in Leven and still lives in the Fife town. He trained as an accountant and worked in finance for manufacturing firms all over Fife until he was in his late 30s.
Ambitious from the outset, he wanted more wealth than his line of work could offer him. 'I thought accountancy would make me rich but then I looked at my boss and his salary was £60,000,' Jim says. 'That was the best I could aspire to.'
Jim bought his first buy-to-let flat in the mid-1990s. 'It wasn't even called buy-to-let back then,' he says. 'There was no term for it. All I knew was I could buy a flat for £15,500 and rent it out for £260 a month, which felt like a good return to me.
'I started buying as many as I could. I'd come home from work, get my overalls on, and go work on properties. I'd work until late in the night, sleep on the floor of the property until 5am, then go home for an hour, shower, and go to work. I was working burnout numbers of hours but it paid off for me in the long term.'
Today Jim has dozens of rental properties in Fife. He also owns Fife Properties, an estate and lettings agency which has offices all over the Kingdom, and he presents the Wealth Creation Show on YouTube.
He had been fascinated by Richard Branson since he was a teenager and jumped at the possibility of spending time with the billionaire Virgin founder.
Getting there involves flying from Heathrow to Miami, a flight to neighbouring Beef Island, and then a boat to Necker Island.
'It's a bit of a lottery whether you'll see Richard because he has business interests all over the world and he travels a lot,' Jim continues. 'But we've been for the Thanksgiving week each year and he always seems to be around then.'
According to Jim, Branson is generous with his time. 'A lot of people are there to stay up late and party but I go there for one reason – to learn.
'He has one of the best business brains in the world and it's a fantastic opportunity to learn what made him so successful.
'Richard does 6.30am bike rides round the island. I make sure I'm on every one of them. Sometimes it's just me and him because everyone else is sleeping off the night before.
'He's going to be 75 soon but he's incredibly fit. We do two 650m climbs to the highest point and a 10-mile loop around the island. I've never beaten him, but I'm training hard and maybe this will be the year.'
Necker Island draws wealthy and powerful people from all over the world. Barack Obama and Bono have been guests there, as have Nelson Mandela, Princess Diana, and Oprah Winfrey.
Another successful Fife fellow is also a frequent visitor, Jim says.
'Sean Donaldson is a celebrity hairdresser from Fife. He studied under Vidal Sassoon and is pals with Ewan McGregor – they were at Fife College together. He's often on Necker Island to do the hair of guests there.'
Such is Branson's star quality, billionaires whose wealth far exceeds his still go to him for advice.
'The co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin, was there when we were there. His net worth makes Richard Branson look like a minnow, yet Richard is who he goes to for advice and guidance. A lot of the world's wealthiest people go to Richard to learn from him.
'The first year we stayed in the Great House. It has bifold doors that open to give an incredible vista across the sea. You can see the private island owned by Google's other co-founder Larry Page.
'One morning I was doing a live broadcast of the Wealth Creation Show and I accidentally wandered into Richard's house.'
Jim himself didn't miss any opportunity to learn from the British entrepreneur. 'The whole time I was there I was learning from him – and from all the other amazingly successful people there.
'Richard can be the life and soul of the party. He's incredibly charismatic. But he's disciplined as well. He goes to bed at 9pm because he's up at 5am. He has a tennis lesson, then his bike ride. At 9am he'll join his guests for breakfast. Then it might be another tennis lesson or some chess, and then business stuff. He packs an enormous amount into every day.'
What were the lessons Jim learned from his time with Branson?
'One is don't take things too seriously. Something that you're worried about now won't seem important in five years' time.
'Another is get good people around you. Richard has almost a superpower for knowing how to get the right people to work for him.
''Work on the business not in the business' is another important one. When I was starting out I was hands on with everything. Now I try not to be.'
'And the other thing is to enjoy downtime. When I was out there I had my out of office on. A hedge fund manager saw that and asked me how on earth I could have my out of office on. He said he was never switched off. This is a guy who manages hundreds of billions of dollars but he can't switch off for a week. The one thing money can't buy you is time.
'Finally, and most importantly, is health. Richard is meticulous about looking after his health. I want to live until I'm 120 if I can. I eat a plant based diet. I've started training for triathlons again. I built a home gym and I work out seven days a week. I want to be doing an ironman when I'm 100.'
Jim and his wife are already looking forward to their next visit. 'We're gong out again in November. It's an annual thing for us now. I'd love to stay even longer if we can – maybe I'll ask Richard if I can shadow him for a month or two.'