A north-east housebuilding and construction group has secured a £25.5million banking facility that will help it overcome the current “depressed” markeplace in the region and target growth opportunities.
Bancon Group has extended its relationship with its existing lender Santander. Bancon switched to the Spanish-owned bank in 2014 after its previous lender, National Australia Bank, had forced it to refinance. The Australian bank, the former owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, had divested its UK property lending in the wake of the banking crisis.
John Irvine, the chief executive of Bancon, said the extension would give the firm a “strong foundation” while acknowledging “the current economic climate in the north-east of Scotland”.
He said: “There is no doubt that the Aberdeen housing market is depressed and, like all housebuilders in the region, we are feeling the impact of that to some extent.
“However, there are still opportunities for the right developments as demonstrated by our site launch at Oaklands, Banchory where the first phase has just sold out in three weeks, with ongoing strong interest in future releases.
“In addition our other sectors continue to show good levels of activity across Scotland and the North of England as evidenced by recent significant contract wins in our construction and timber frame businesses.”
Bancon, which is owned by the aristocratic Burnett of Leys family, embarked on a five year growth strategy in 2015 with Mr Irvine’s appointment. It said it has completed a restructure across the group and made several senior appointments to strengthen the management team.
Recently it emerged that the former boss of trade body Homes for Scotland Philip Hogg, who had been appointed as head of Bancon’s house building business, has left the company.