Aberdeen-headquartered construction consultancy McLeod + Aitken has completed a management buyout, worth upwards of £10 million.
Four existing directors, Graeme Beaton, Mark Hirst, Alistair Seel and Grant Jamieson now own the Queen’s Road based firm.
They have assumed control from Mike Shirreffs, Duncan Moir and Matt Gordon who had been at the helm for close to 20 years.
McLeod + Aitken employs 90 staff internationally, offering services in quantity surveying and project management.
Management buyout
Mr Jamieson said the 70-year-old firm will stay true to its “old-school” values as it continues to grow internationally following the takeover which was completed last week.
He said: “We are multinational, but we are almost like family, and we want to ensure we keep our ethos and values going.
“They [Shirreffs, Moir and Gordon] could have gone to one of the bigger players and said do you want to buy McLeod + Aitken, but for the right reasons they came to guys who know the company, know how the company’s run and have relationships with the clients.”
The firm’s Queen’s Road headquarters, which employs a team of 25, is one of its six UK offices.
“We are now in Europe; we have had our office in Australia for almost 15 years and we have just newly opened our office in Dubai in October,” added Mr Jamieson.
“We have got a huge client base, and we are always looking at the ways in which to build the company.”
Nitty gritty quantity surveying
Mr Jamieson says the firm continues to build on its legacy.
It was first established by Aberdeen quantity surveyors Norman McLeod and Sandy Aitken back in 1954.
Norman’s son, Laurence McLeod, remains a director in the Aberdeen office.
“We are a very traditional firm in terms of our quantity surveying side,” added Mr Jamieson.
“We are fully old-school in our approach, we measure things properly, it’s real nitty gritty quantity surveying.”
Locally, McLeod + Aitken’s projects include the Prime Four Business Park and Union Terrace Gardens.
And it maintains close connections with Robert Gordon University, employing graduates yearly, as well as regularly taking in placement students.
Taking a savvy approach
“Aberdeen has suffered a tricky time the last five or six years compared to the height of the oil boom,” said Mr Jamieson.
“You’ve got to be a bit savvy in your approach and make sure that things keep ticking over.
“The market has slowed down; we are not getting the same volume of big projects anymore but there are still enough of smaller scale to keep us going.
“We get a lot of our work through our reputation.”
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