GLADEDALE, the privately-owned housebuilder and property developer, is to establish a new regional headquarters in Stirling, creating around 30 new jobs, as it looks to boost its influence north of the Border.
The Epsom-based firm, which is involved in Edinburgh's Quartermile project with joint venture partner HBoS, is also planning to consolidate its various mainstream housing subsidiary brands, including Bett Homes in Scotland, pulling them all under the
uniform Gladedale banner.
Gladedale, which employs around 1200 people, said Scotland would be a key focal point as the company looks to drive expansion and become one of the top ten housebuilders in the UK and one the top three in Scotland.
In Scotland, the group, which has developments at Chesser and in Prestonpans under the Bett brand, is aiming to increase output during 2007 to around a third of its UK total.
Helping underpin that goal is the creation of the Stirling HQ - the cost of which was put as "a significant sum" - which will also be home to several key group-wide functions, including sales and marketing, customer service, health and safety and IT.
Since buying Bett Homes in 2002, Gladedale has significantly boosted the footprint of the business in Scotland, opening new divisional units in Dundee Angus and Aberdeenshire.
Group chief executive David Gaffney said: "Scotland will be a vital area for us in 2007. We see major opportunities for Gladedale in and around the four major cities but also in areas such as Inverness, Perth, Fife, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and into the south-west."
Part of the expansion will see all subsidiary brand names being dropped to "maximise sales and marketing activities", meaning the likes of Bett Partnerships, which specialises in developments with housing associations and local authorities in Scotland, will become Gladedale Partnerships. Other regional brands such as Furlong and Premier will also go.
However, each Gladedale operation will retain a geographical identity, such as Gladedale (Central Scotland) as the change is phased in over the first half of this year.
The only exception is in Gladedale's affordable housing divisions, which will come under the single brand, Primo.
Mr Gaffney said: "We believe that uniting our mainstream house building activities under a single brand is pivotal to achieving our future growth aspirations. It will give us a UK-wide platform to maximise our sales and marketing investment. The qualities that have made each brand successful will be enhanced, not diluted, during this re-branding exercise."
Gladedale, which is also involved in a £40m office joint venture with Scotmid at Fountainbridge, is poised to report results for what executive chairman Remo Dipre - who founded the business in 1996 - described as its most successful year yet.
"We expect to report growth for 2006 at a similar rate as for 2005 and our strategy remains to maintain our rate of growth mainly organically but we will consider acquisitions when the right opportunities arise," he said.
The full article contains 494 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
