Derek Hutchison

Jetting to California just two days post-graduation, GCU alum Derek Hutchison helped build construction firm Cumming Group from a plucky startup in Southern California into one of the biggest construction consultancies in North America during his climb to becoming CEO and President.

“Right out of the gate, I really appreciated the practical hands-on experience and philosophy that the University brought. Everything from being out on Cathedral Street with survey equipment, doing architectural history assignments up and around Merchant City and really getting into the broader built environment. So right from the get-go, I knew it was the right decision for me.”

However, for Derek, becoming the CEO and President of Cumming Group wasn’t his initial post-grad plan.

“I got a phone call out of the blue from a Scotsman in Southern California, just outside Los Angeles, and he says, ‘Hey, my name is Finlay Cumming. I got your CV from Norrie Mort.’"

Mort – then head of the Glasgow Caledonian Quantity Surveying department – had taught Finlay Cumming 20 years earlier at the Glasgow College of Building and Printing.

“I’ll never forget it was during a Rangers v Celtic match. We're watching the game and I'm thinking, who the hell calls during an old firm match! I pick up the phone and he says, 'It's Finlay Cumming. I'm calling from Orange County, California.' I said, 'Well, can you call back? It's in the middle of an Old Firm game, you know?'

“I called him back at the end of the game. I said, 'Look, I've got a job, I've got an offer, but I’ll think about it.’ I decided to take the plunge and thought I'd go for one year.“

So, fast-forward to graduating at the Royal Concert Hall on the Wednesday. We had our grad ball at the Grosvenor on the Wednesday night, and then I flew to Los Angeles on the Friday and started working on the Monday.

“I’d say that first weekend was pretty mind-blowing, thinking, 'How the hell did I get here?' But it was entirely because of the connections I made at Glasgow Caledonian.”

Derek and his wife, Sarah, met studying Quantity Surveying at GCU. Sarah Brown graduated with QS degree from GCU in 1998 and went to work for First Engineering at Buchanan House in Glasgow. She answered an advert in the Glasgow Herald for Quantity Surveyors in the US and ended up at Cumming in Southern California in 2001. At Cumming, she led the Hospitality sector and was the company’s first female director before her retirement in 2021. Today, Sarah is active in several not-for-profit organisations with a focus on engaging with youth on ecological land management practices across New England.

Meanwhile, Derek was also working up the ranks. Cumming Group gave him the opportunity to travel the world, playing a major part in the business’ success over the years.

“I opened a Hawaii office for the firm and then I opened the first office in Florida, so a lot of travel. I got to see a lot of the country, flying around and supporting my clients and helping grow the business.”

“Today we have about 2,800 team members, most in the United States. We have expanded into Canada in the last year, and we have about 750 team members across the West of Europe. We have offices in Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Dublin, Belfast, across Germany, etc. So really Europe is a growth market, but we still feel like we've got a lot of running room still in North America."

It’s in North America that Cumming Group have helped to deliver some of their most recognisable projects – including the restoration of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York and the Sphere in Las Vegas.

This ethos of investing in young talent is a tradition that Derek intends to keep up in the business model. In the competitive post-graduate job market, he shares how to stand out from the crowd:

“I get a lot of LinkedIn requests every day, but when I see a graduate from Glasgow Caledonian, obviously I'm going to keep an eye out for them, but if I see a graduate or a student from any university, particularly with a built environment background, asking for help with a dissertation, that really impresses me.”