Land Engineering, a major Scottish management and construction company, are predicting considerable growth in Scotland and England this year from their new specialist stone division, Stone Engineering, launched in March.
The new division (news of which was first announced in the December issue of NSS) will create 50 jobs, including senior management positions for Graeme Haddon and Ian Wilkinson, the former joint Managing Directors of Watson Stonecraft. They will be working with Charles Barrett, the Commercial Director of Land Engineering, who will head the new division.
Alex Stark, who worked for Watson nearly all his working life and is a stalwart of Stone Federation Great Britain, will also be working with Stone Engineering as a consultant. Land Engineering have already joined the Stone Federation.
Watson Stonecraft, one of Scotland’s oldest and most respected stone companies, went into receivership last year (see NSS July issue) with the loss of more than 100 jobs. Their machinery was snapped up by Tradstocks in advance of a planned auction of it.
Stone Engineering will extend Land Engineering’s established portfolio of civil engineering, public realm, environmental regeneration and renewal schemes, grounds maintenance and soft landscaping services.
The newly launched stone division is expected to play a significant role in Land Engineering’s growth plans for the year ahead. They predict the new division will help them increase turnover this year by 23% to £47million with profits up by £800,000 to £2million.
Land Engineering, who employ 500 people, were formed in 1980 in Bridgeton, Glasgow, moving to Fenwick in 1990. Since then they have opened offices in Edinburgh, Grangemouth and now Livingston. Livingston is to be the headquarters of the new Stone Engineering division.
If the growth being predicted for this year is achieved Land Engineering will have doubled their turnover and increased profits five-fold since 2005.
Land Engineering Managing Director John Ronald says the firm has a strong order book for the year ahead despite the economic downturn. “A large proportion of our secured work is providing an extensive range of design and construction solutions in relation to urban renewal and regeneration projects which can range from large scale civil engineering contracts to soft landscaping of play parks and recreational areas,” he says.
“With the introduction of Stone Engineering we will be extending our range of services and our expertise in natural stone by providing an unrivalled offering to our public and private sector clients in Scotland and the North of England.”
Stone Engineering’s services include traditional masonry, cladding work and rainscreen façades for new build; repair and restoration services; internal flooring; and surveying, procurement, stone selection and design.
Charles Barrett said: “We believe this is the right time for us to capitalise on our industry knowledge and expertise in this market with a dedicated and highly skilled management team and workforce. We see this as a tremendous growth opportunity for the future.”
Land Engineering have also appointed Janette Anderson to their board. She is the former Chief Executive of First Engineering.