Ogilvie Construction News
Company news and updates

Construction Director Bob Gray is running three marathons in just five weeks to raise funds for The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow. Starting with the London Marathon on the 23rd April, Bob will also run the Stirling and Edinburgh Marathons in the following weeks. 

Bob’s sister sadly passed away in November 2013 from cancer and charities like TPPWH give fantastic support to the patients, as well as their family and friends. The hospice looks after 1,200 patients every year and relies on more than £3million in donations to maintain this level of care.

To support Bob’s efforts, you can donate via his Just Giving page here. Any donation, large or small, will be greatly received and help the hospice to continue its fantastic work. 

Bob’s marathons:

London – 23rd April
Stirling – 21st May
Edinburgh – 28th May

Ogilvie Construction are delighted to be working with Robert Gordon University to offer industry work placements to some of its students. The article below from the RGU website explains more about the scheme and how construction companies can help to fill the skills gap.

Robert Gordon University (RGU) has teamed up with a Scottish construction company to offer students paid employment opportunities.

Ogilvie Construction Ltd is currently hosting Stage 2 Construction Management student Patrycja Linka to give her valuable paid work experience relating to her studies.

Former-Construction management subject leader at RGU, Rob Leslie, is urging more companies to follow the example in order to help tackle the skills shortage the industry is facing and ensure students have extensive practical experience to complement their qualification when they graduate.

RGU already works with a wide variety of companies to provide students with a placement opportunity during their third year, which often leads to longer-term employment.

Ogilvie Construction has invested £65,000 in two new excavators as part of a programme to upgrade machinery to meet growth plans.

Groundworks Manager, Robbie Reilly and Senior Buyer, Lauren Kidd, were on hand this week to take delivery of the new machines at the company’s headquarters in Stirling. 

The two JCB excavators will be brought into service immediately to meet current high demand. Ogilvie’s teams are working on a range of projects across Scotland including new student accommodation, schools and hotels.

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction said:

“It is essential that our teams are properly equipped to deliver high quality buildings on time and budget for our clients. The new excavators are part of our continued investment in equipment and training to ensure that we consistently meet the high standards that our customers expect.  Our on-site teams operate with over 150 hourly paid employees, rather than relying heavily on sub-contractors, with a total focus on quality.  

“Our order book remains strong and we expect to see continued steady growth in operations over the next year.” 

Ogilvie Construction is part of the Ogilvie Group, one of Scotland's most consistently successful family owned businesses.  The company is over 60 years old and employs over 450 people across its various business operations.

With the final containers in place and the finishing touches being made to the True Glasgow student accommodation project, Global Construction Review took a look at the unique construction method that has reduces build time and improves health safety. The full article can be read below:

A new high-end student accommodation is nearing completion in Glasgow made from pre-manufactured steel boxes made and fitted out completely in China.

Called “True Glasgow West End”, the 592-room complex taking shape on a former industrial site by the River Clyde borrows both its branding approach and luxury standards from the hotel business.

At a time when the UK construction industry is under pressure to modernise with pre-manufacturing techniques, its developer says the modular approach isn’t cheaper, but does cut build time by up to 20%, improves health and safety, and ensures finished quality as predictably as car manufacturing.

Everything in the room is sourced and fitted by China International Marine Containers (CIMC) except the TV and the bed mattress, which are added later.

“The bed is in, the flooring is in, the curtains are in, the desk is in, the lights are in, even the desk chair and the waste-paper bin,” said Marc Carter, managing director of developer True Student Ltd. “Everything is included. When the modules arrive we fit a mattress made in the UK and we fit a TV, because that’s too fragile to ship.”

Successful topping out event for new 237-bed purpose-built student accommodation development, The Old Printworks, Edinburgh, on track and on budget for opening in August 2017.

Crosslane Student Developments, part of the Crosslane Group, celebrated the topping out event of The Old Printworks development at 20 Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh, on 29 March 2017. The ceremony was conducted by Jon Stuart, Director of Crosslane Student Developments and Grier Edmead, Contracts Manager, Ogilvie Construction. The total development value of the property is approximately £31 million.

Work on site commenced in January 2016 to develop a new, purpose-built, high specification, city centre scheme, comprising 44 studios and 193 cluster flat bedrooms ranging from three to nine bed clusters. In addition, there will be high quality communal facilities including a common room, meeting space, laundry facilities, gym and bike storage.

The high specification scheme, due for completion in August 2017 in time for the 2017/2018 academic year, is in an ideal location amidst the popular student hub of Edinburgh, being just a short walk to the University of Edinburgh campus and close to the historic Royal Mile, in the heart of the city centre.

BBC Scotland have recently featured a video of Ogilvie Construction's unique project at Kelvinhaugh Street in Glasgow. The video explains the new building method that saves around 20% of construction time using shipping containers that are fitted out off-site then stacked together to produce a nine storey student accommodation block. 

The full write-up and video can be seen here.

On the 15th February 2017, 2nd year HND Construction Manager Students from Glasgow College visited the Kelvinhaugh Student Accommodation project.

Project Manager, Gavin Fraser and Trainee Graduate Site Manager, Stephen Prentice conducted the site walk-round and presentation to the students.

Ann MacDonald, Lecturer from Glasgow College said: "The students were very impressed by their visit which has given them a very valuable insight into the many and varied responsibilities of a Construction Manager.  Your presentation was superb and the site walk-round was very informative"

The Kelvinhaugh Street project was recently revealed as Ogilvie's 100th Considerate Construction Scheme project.

A group of students from the National Certificate in Civil Engineering Class at Dundee & Angus College recently visited the site of the New Premier Inn Hotel, Dundee Central.

The students and course lecturer, Kevin Mill, were met on site by Ogilvie Construction Senior Site Manager, Stephen Mackie who gave an overview of the project. This was followed up by a guided tour of the site, by Scott Robertson, Site Manager and Billy Sutherland, Ground Works Supervisor.   The students then had the chance to ask questions and project interfaces were looked at in detail.

Lecturer Kevin Mill said of Ogilvie Construction "Because of your efforts and professionalism, our experience could not have been better.  All or your employees were extremely courteous and went out of their way to explain various functions and answered any questions the students asked about the project.  It's so important to us at the Dundee and Angus College from development aspects to encourage a learning approach which helps the students to make connections between the subject matter and the 'real world' of work or the profession, as this is invaluable to their studies and skills setting for future employees"

Ogilvie Construction has reached it’s 100^th building project registered with the Considerate Constructors Scheme, reflecting the company’s commitment to operate safe, clean sites and respect neighbouring communities.

The site at Kelvinhaugh Street in Glasgow, where Ogilvie is building a 607 bedroom student accommodation building, has the honour of being the 100^th project in the scheme.

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said: “We are proud to have reached this significant milestone. It is essential that we always consider the effect of construction work on the local neighbourhood and engage with the community to take account of their needs throughout the project.  Our site teams work closely with communities over the lifetime of the build.”

The Considerate Constructors Scheme is a non-profit making independent organisation founded in 1997 by the construction industry to improve its image.

Construction sites, companies and suppliers voluntarily register with the Scheme and agree to abide by the Code of Considerate Practice, designed to encourage best practice beyond statutory requirements.

The latest Glenigan tables of the top contractors in Scotland for 2016 has seen Ogilvie Construction finish the year strongly in 10th place.

The 12 month period saw 14 deals won with a total value of £104 million.