Ogilvie Construction News
Company news and updates

Almost 100 new Gold Standard council houses finished

Work has totally finished and tenants are moving into a development of new council flats which are part of a programme building 2,000 new council houses across Aberdeen. The development at Auchmill near Bucksburn is one of nine sites across the city where Aberdeen City Council is building new council houses – the only council in Scotland to be building new council houses on this scale and to the Gold Standard. 

The Auchmill development will provide 92 homes including a mixture of two to eight people flats and wheelchair-designed flats. The major project which is providing council homes across the city is one of several sites across Aberdeen which form part of the wider Aberdeen City Council’s housing programme aiming to address a long-term shortage of affordable social rented housing in the city.

The homes at Auchmill, with Ogilvie Construction as main contractor, are designed to a Gold Standard level of energy efficiency throughout and low maintenance external amenity spaces as well as creation of a new ramp to the A96 which will provide safer access and support more walking, cycling, and wheeling through Active Travel.

The design specification for Gold Standard requires energy efficient technologies that make homes greener and cheaper to run, enhanced sound transference, and increased natural light.

“These new homes will not only be energy efficient but also low maintenance and built to an extremely high quality in the industry-recognised Gold Standard.”

Aberdeen City Council Co-Leader Councillor Ian Yuill said: “These new homes are designed to help meet the areas of greatest demand for council homes, including for families, single people, and wheelchair-friendly.

“I am delighted that high quality council homes of differing sizes suitable for a range of tenants will help make a real positive difference to the lives of residents.”

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said: “We are proud to have built these high-quality homes for Aberdeen City Council. Residents will enjoy the benefits of innovative, modern living space built to meet their needs and incorporating effective energy efficient designs.”

The vision of Aberdeen City Council’s new housing programme is to create sustainable integrated communities and places by delivering affordable homes designed for life which meet residents’ current and changing needs, while supporting the wellbeing and resilience of tenants.

They will meet the most demand for council properties including flats for single people, flats for families, terraced houses, wheelchair-friendly properties, and a small number of amenity bungalows. They are being designed for exacting standards including housing for various needs, dementia friendly, low carbon, low maintenance, and to meet the Gold Standard.

Ogilvie Construction has been appointed to public sector development partner Hub South East Scotland’s new Tier 1B Construction Contractor Supply Chain.

We were chosen after a robust selection process which included representatives from the Hub’s public sector clients and Scottish Futures Trust.

The new Tier 1B supply chain will augment Hub’s existing supply chain frameworks with a primary focus on domestic scale / residential construction of affordable housing, social and dementia care homes / care villages, crisis response and complex care.

Paul McGirk, Hub South East’s Chief Executive, said:

“We are delighted to have appointed Ogilvie Construction to our supply chain. Ogilvie is a well-respected contractor with experience in other Hubs across Scotland, and importantly has demonstrated a commitment to our shared values and partnership ethos. We look forward to working with the team on future projects.

“Relationships with our supply chain members are fundamental to Hub South East’s continued success and I am confident that this new appointment will be an excellent addition to our already strong offering, helping us to achieve our aim of being the development partner of choice for our public sector clients.”

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said:

“We are delighted to have joined Hub South East Scotland’s supply chain and look forward to working with them to deliver high quality buildings that will benefit communities for many years to come.  Our teams have extensive experience in building a wide range of public infrastructure.”

Ogilvie is currently on the supply chain with Hub North, Hub East Central and Hub South West. Earlier this month, the company was also successful in winning a place on the £500 million LHC New Build Construction H2 Framework operated by the Scottish Procurement Alliance.

Ogilvie Construction has promoted three of its senior management team to positions on its board as part of a strategy for continued growth across Scotland.

 David Arundel, David Mason and Grier Edmead have taken up their new roles with immediate effect.

Senior Commercial Manager, David Arundel, has been with the company for 15 years and becomes Commercial Director covering all areas of the country. Senior Operations Manager, Grier Edmead, becomes Operations Director with responsibility for delivery of projects in Central Scotland. David Mason joined the company last year as Operations Manager based in Aberdeen. He becomes Operations Director covering Tayside and the North of Scotland.

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said:

“We are delighted to make these promotions, recognising the valuable contributions that David, David and Grier have made to the continued success of the business. They will play an important part in driving the business forward and delivering the highest standards of quality across all of our operations.”

Ogilvie Construction is part of the Ogilvie Group, one of Scotland’s most consistently successful family-owned businesses.  The company is over 65 years old and employs 600 people across its various business operations in the UK.

Pictured left to right: Grier Edmead, David Arundel, David Mason.

Ogilvie Construction is celebrating landing an internationally recognised award for demonstrating high health and safety standards for the ninth consecutive year.

Ogilvie has once again received a RoSPA Gold Medal Health and Safety Award for working hard to ensure its staff get home safe to their families at the end of every working day.

Organisations receiving a RoSPA Award are recognised as being world-leaders in health and safety practice. Every year, nearly 2,000 entrants vie to achieve the highest possible accolade in what is the UK’s longest-running H&S industry awards.

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said: “We are delighted to receive our ninth gold award in a row. It recognises our commitment to consistently high standards of health and safety across all areas of our operations as we continue to invest heavily in maintaining the strongest possible safety culture across the organisation.”

Julia Small, RoSPA’s Achievements Director, said: “This is a fantastic and well-deserved accomplishment. All our award entrants demonstrate their unwavering commitment and passion for keeping people safe at work. By receiving this recognition Ogilvie Construction join like-minded businesses and organisations worldwide, who represent the very best in their approach to Health and Safety. I would like to add my personal thanks for all the work that it has taken to secure this well-deserved award – congratulations to all those involved, who champion and drive up Health and Safety standards every day. You are a fantastic example to others in your sector.”

Most awards are non-competitive and mark achievement at merit, bronze, silver and gold levels. Gold medals, president’s awards, orders of distinction and the Patron’s Award are presented to organisations sustaining the high standards of the gold level over consecutive years.

Ogilvie Construction is part of the Ogilvie Group, one of Scotland’s most consistently successful family-owned businesses.  The company is over 65 years old and employs more than 600 people across its various business operations in the UK.

Ogilvie Construction has been awarded a place on a new £500 million New Build Construction H2 framework which aims to address community needs for housing.

The new build framework, which runs until 2026, has been developed by LHC and will be operated the Scottish Procurement Alliance (SPA). It offers traditional housing, low medium and high-rise construction, care homes, mixed use site and sheltered, student and keyworker accommodation.  The focus will be on creating net zero buildings, bringing environmental benefits at local level and improving the lives of communities.

Donald Macdonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said:

“We are delighted to have been appointed to this framework and look forward to working with SPA.  Our team has extensive expertise and experience in the delivery of high quality affordable new homes across Scotland.”

Ogilvie Construction has in recent years built over 500 new homes for local authorities and housing association, with further 400 currently under construction. The company has delivered 13 student accommodation facilities in Scotland totalling more than 3,000 student rooms.

Ogilvie Construction is part of the Ogilvie Group, one of Scotland’s most consistently successful family-owned businesses.  The company is over 65 years old and employs 600 people across its various business operations in the UK.

Ogilvie Construction are delighted to announce that Site Manager, Gary Davis has been accepted as a Chartered member of the CIOB and can now refer to himself proudly as a Chartered Construction Manager.

Gary has joined a network of professionals who hold an internationally recognised qualification. Working with Team Ogilvie since 1997 he is a valued member of the team and is currently managing the construction of our George Street project in Glasgow.

Ogilvie Construction manager, Bernard McLaughlan, is celebrating after being shortlisted in the finals of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Scotland Awards 2022 for the Project Manager of the Year category. In the fifteen years since he joined the company, Bernard has successfully managed a range of major construction projects including:

• Great Tapestry of Scotland Museum, Galashiels
• Premier Inn Hotel, Aviemore
• Combworks Student Accommodation, Aberdeen
• Orchard Brae ASN School, Aberdeen

He is currently managing a project to deliver 118 new affordable homes in Aberdeen.

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said: “We are incredibly proud to see that Bernard’s commitment and expertise has been recognised by the CIOB in shortlisting him for this award. He is a dedicated and valued member of the Ogilvie team who will always go the extra mile for our clients to deliver high quality buildings on time and budget.  Everyone in the company is rooting for him.”

The Final will take place at the Double Tree by Hilton Glasgow Hotel on the 16^th September.

Ogilvie Construction has continued to expand its team with the appointment of Jim Yuille as Pre-Construction Manager and Rebecca Newlands as Estimating Assistant.

With over 35 years’ experience in the construction industry, Jim has a broad knowledge of pre-construction management and construction delivery across both the private and public sectors.  He will be responsible for project development and phasing plans, logistics and risk mitigation strategies, as well as design management.

Rebecca joins with over three years’ experience in commercial and procurement work. She will provide invaluable support to the estimating team.

Donald MacDonald, Managing Director, Ogilvie Construction, said:

“I’m delighted to welcome Jim and Rebecca to the Ogilvie team. Their appointment enhances our team as we continue to grow the business and deliver exceptional quality and service to our clients.”

Ogilvie Construction is part of the Ogilvie Group, one of Scotland’s most consistently successful family-owned businesses.  The company is over 65 years old and employs more than 600 people across its various business operations in the UK.

Ogilvie Construction has officially begun site operations on BT Group’s brand new multi-million pound contact centre in Dundee as Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, and Rob Shuter, CEO of BT Enterprise, participated in the ground-breaking ceremony.

The new office, which will be home to around 1,000 colleagues forms part of Dundee’s £1bn regeneration area, and will be located at West Marketgait, in the heart of the city centre, close to the waterfront.

The building is expected to be completed in 2024 and will be one of BT Group’s 30 locations in the UK, developed as part of its ‘Better Workplace Programme’ – the largest workplace improvement and consolidation scheme of its type ever undertaken in the UK. The group is also undertaking a multi-million pound refurbishment of its flagship Glasgow office, situated on the Clydeside.

The investment will help transform the way BT Group works, create efficiencies and enable it to better serve its customers in Scotland and across the UK. The company’s current office in Dundee, which is based on Ward Road and is home to around 1,000 colleagues, first opened in 1976. BT Group employs more than 7,000 colleagues across Scotland, ensuring homes, businesses, schools, GPs and hospitals, from Shetland to Stranraer, stay connected wherever they are and whatever the weather.

Teams based in Dundee include those providing customer service support to consumer and small business customers. BT Group has recruited hundreds of people in Dundee in the past four years.

Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, said: “It was great to visit BT’s new ‘Better Workplaces’ site, which represents another key milestone in Dundee’s £1 billion economic regeneration.

“Our recently published National Strategy for Economic Transformation contains bold and ambitious actions - within the powers currently available to us - to deliver economic prosperity for all Scotland’s people and places.

“The state-of-the-art facility will provide nearly 1,000 quality jobs that will support individuals, communities and businesses to be better connected, whilst benefitting from technological innovation. This latest investment reinforces Dundee’s standing as a centre of technological excellence with a highly skilled workforce.”

Rob Shuter, CEO of BT Enterprise, said: “BT is one of the largest employers in the Tayside area and we’re excited to be able to continue investing in the area, and across Scotland. It’s a positive time of regeneration in Dundee and we’re thrilled to be part of that story by building our new state-of-the-art office which will become home to nearly 1,000 of our colleagues, securing vital jobs within the economy.

“Right now, our key industries are on the cusp of a technological revolution as Scotland prepares to make the switch from analogue to digital ways of working. Only businesses which make the leap will succeed and stay competitive - our role is to help them navigate that journey and our new Charter reflects the priorities that our business and public customers expect to see from BT. Our teams based at our Scottish offices, including Dundee, will be key to Scotland’s economic success.”

BT Group plays an important role in the Scottish economy and is responsible for generating £1 in every £115 produced in the country, according to an independent report. It also generated £1.2 billion to the economy of Scotland in “Gross Value Added” GVA, during the 2019/20 financial year.* BT Group supports more than 12,400 jobs across the nation.

The new building will include what its designers have described as a ‘street landscape,’ with areas for colleagues to socialise while enjoying great views over Dundee and the River Tay. Being developed by Crucible Developments and built by Ogilvie Construction with the help of its young apprentices.

The team behind the design and build of the Great Tapestry of Scotland visitor centre in Galashiels is celebrating another accolade after winning the RICS Scotland Award for best public building.

The building, designed by Page\Park Architect and built by Ogilvie Construction, consists of gallery spaces, a visitor centre, café, workshop area and offices. The front of the neighbouring B listed post office was refurbished to accommodate staff and studio space.

Colin Smith MRICS, chair of the judging panel, said: “These winning projects are a true testament to the hard work of property professionals in Scotland. The pandemic has led to the industry facing much uncertainty and challenging conditions, but we were delighted, and very proud to see such innovative building projects appearing across our cities and towns.”

Earlier this year, the building won the Design Award for New Build (Commercial) in the Scottish Borders Design Awards. The visitor centre has also received the highest 5-star rating for visitor experience by Visit Scotland, which reflects an ‘exceptional customer experience.’

The Great Tapestry of Scotland is a unique project to stitch the entire story of Scotland from pre-history to modern times and through its artistry and visual storytelling, making Scotland’s history, heritage and culture accessible to all.