Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Housebuilder Scotia takes over fellow Ellon firm Caledonia Homes

l-r Martin Bruce, managing director, Scotia Homes, and Stuart Sutherland, managing director, Caledonia Homes, shake hands on their takeover deal

Housebuilder Scotia Homes has taken over timber kit manufacturer Caledonia Homes in order to “to take more control of our supply chain”.

Both firms have their headquarters in Ellon, Aberdeenshire.

Scotia is majority owned by Camlin Group, a joint venture of property entrepreneurs Bruce Linton – the property entrepreneur behind Dundee-based James Keiller Holdings – and Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club director David Cameron.

Caledonia has been 100%-owned by Stuart Sutherland since 2004.

Acquired business to keep name

Mr Sutherland, 58, will stay on for a spell to see through current contracts before bowing out as he heads into early retirement.

The value of Scotia’s takeover was undisclosed.

Caledonia, based in Castle Road Industrial Estate, will continue to operate as a separate subsidiary and under the same branding.

The firm’s 19 employees are continuing in their roles as part of the wider group.

Scotia Homes is active across the north-east and further south, including this planned redevelopment of Madras College in St Andrews.

Scotia has also signed a new 15-year lease of Caledonia’s business premises in Ellon.

The housebuilder said it was committed to investing in the site to increase manufacturing capacity.

Scotia managing director Martin Bruce said he had known Mr Sutherland for many years and been “hugely impressed” by the quality of Caledonia’s housebuilding and timber kit manufacturing operations.

Mr Bruce added: “Stuart has developed a highly skilled team and we are delighted that all staff members will be retained, with the Caledonia business becoming part of the wider Scotia group. I look forward to welcoming them as part of our team.”

‘Huge’ cost inflation

Scotia chairman Gary Gerrard said: “With the huge cost inflation that we have experienced during the past year and material supply shortages we have seen across the construction industry, it became apparent to our board that we needed to take more control of our supply chain.

“Timber kits are a key component of our housebuilding operations and we identified this excellent acquisition opportunity right on our doorstep.”

Scotia Homes chairman Gary Gerard.

Mr Gerrard added: The benefits of acquiring Caledonia are threefold: it provides us with in-house manufacturing capability for our timber kits, alongside our existing suppliers; it provides additional highly skilled teams of office-based and on/off site trades; and it supports our sustainability agenda and forms a key part of our ESG (environment, social and governance) strategy by expanding our local supply chain.

“It is a great news story for Ellon in the current turbulent economic conditions.”

Mr Sutherland said: “Scotia Homes is one of Ellon’s largest employers, with development sites across the north of Scotland.

“I had taken the decision to retire earlier this year before receiving an unsolicited approach from Scotia.

“After several meetings, I became comfortable they were a perfect fit for my business, and also offered continuation of employment for my employees and sub-contractors.”

Inside one of Scotia Homes’ new properties.

Scotia has been building homes in the north and north-east of Scotland for more than 30 years.

Its current and future development pipeline includes sites in Aberdeen, Arbroath, Aviemore, Ballater, Blairgowrie, Braemar, Brechin, Croy, Ellon, Forfar, Insch, Inverness, Kincraig, Kintore, Newmachar, Oldmeldrum, Perth, St Andrews and Tarves.

With the huge cost inflation that we have experienced during the past year and material supply shortages we have seen across the construction industry, it became apparent to our board that we needed to take more control of our supply chain.”

Gary Gerrard, chairman, Scotia Homes.

The company builds about 200 new homes annually and employs more than 200 people.

Accounts filed for the year to June 30 2021 showed turnover of £33.16 million.

This was down from about £37m in the previous 14-month accounting period but Scotia said the latest figure reflected an underlying increase of 4% on an annualised basis.

Conversation