Lomond Capital beefs up senior team in Edinburgh LOMOND Capital, the fast-growing property management outfit backed by City heavyweight Roger Lane-Smith, has beefed up its senior team in Edinburgh. Ben Di Rollo, director of Shapes Property Auctions, takes the newly created role of head of property management. Di Rollo, who is also captain of the first team at Watsonians rugby football club in Edinburgh, is charged with improving the service for landlords and tenants. His appointment comes just weeks after Lomond recruited Malcolm Cannon - former chief executive of the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre (ESPC) - to run its Edinburgh operations. Bryan Robertson, business integration director at Lomond Capital, said Di Rollo would be "driving professional standards." Robertson added: "We are extremely pleased to have attracted Ben to support Malcolm in driving our flagship business in Edinburgh." Lomond Capital has built up its operations in Edinburgh following a series of acquisitions, including Alba Residential, James Gibb Property Management and Woodstar Property Management. The firm now has more than 4,000 properties in Edinburgh under the Alba, Braemore and James Gibb brands. Lane-Smith, a founder and former chairman of international law firm DLA Piper and former chairman of JJB Sports, set up Lomond Capital in 2010 with chief executive Stuart Pender with a £45 million war chest to fund acquisitions. Pender, who started his career as an actuary with Scottish Amicable, led the management buyout of insurance firm Paymentshield in 2004 with backing from Bank of Scotland, growing profits to £45m from £4m within four years. Lomond Capital has built up its presence in Aberdeen - taking over Bon Accord Leasing, KWAD Property Managers, Simpson Brebner and Stonehouse Property Management & Leasing - giving it more than 1,500 properties in the Granite City. The company has already expanded into Manchester and said it is on the verge of beginning to operate in Birmingham and Leeds. News of Di Rollo's appointment and Lomond Capital's expansion comes as a group of companies launches the Association of Professional Letting Agents in Scotland. The association last month hired Peter Duncan and Andy Maciver at boutique strategic communications consultancy Message Matters - which has worked with clients including Keep Scotland Beautiful, the Scottish Seabird Centre and "big five" Scottish law firm Shepherd & Wedderburn - to overcome the "bad press" that the industry receives.