Tulloch breaks turf in Aberdeen with development

Tulloch Homes, the Highland builder recently bought by its management, is returning to the Aberdeen market with a £9 million development.
George Fraser said location is the key to finding a good siteGeorge Fraser said location is the key to finding a good site
George Fraser said location is the key to finding a good site

The Inverness-based company has begun work on 45 two-bedroom apartments at a site called the Courtyard, in a former envelope manufacturing factory at Duff Street a short distance from the city centre.

Tulloch chief executive George Fraser also revealed that the firm is applying to build another Aberdeen development, in the grounds of the former Balgownie Primary school in the Bridge of Don area of the city.

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Fraser said: “We’re extremely pleased to be back in Aberdeen city after a long absence, although we have successfully built developments in Aberdeenshire, in places like Rothienorman, Insch and Lumphanan in recent years.

“It was a matter of finding the right location and Duff Street is central and with good transport links and we’re delighted with the potential for this development.

“We’re on the verge of approval for Balgownie, another exciting location, and it’s fair to say that we hope to roll out further developments in Aberdeen in due course.”

Fraser added that, despite the widely publicised impact of the recent plunge in crude prices on Britain’s oil capital, the fundamentals of the Aberdeen economy remain strong and Tulloch was “prepared to invest significantly” there.

“We are continuing to roll out fresh phases of developments in Inverness and Ross-shire throughout 2015, building on strong sales growth in the past couple of years,” he added.

The announcement comes after a management buyout earlier this month led by Fraser, chairman Tom Allison and finance director Sandy Grant.

The management team bought Tulloch from its investment banking and private equity owners for an undisclosed price.

The trio, who have run the company for several years, said at the time that the deal would secure 150 Scottish construction jobs.

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The housebuilder also supports a further 1,000 jobs in communities throughout the north of Scotland.

The sellers were investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equity giant TPG, and the buyout was backed by a £30m funding package from Bank of Scotland.

Lynne Boyd, Tulloch Homes’ sales director, said the group would start selling homes from the first block of apartments at The Courtyard this summer and had already received “a very large advance bank of enquiries”.

Meanwhile, investment group Etaireia said it had completed the acquisition of a development site in Glasgow planning permission for 47 homes.

The site, at Roystonhill north of the Clyde, was bought for £700,000 in cash. The area is subject to an ongoing regeneration programme that has seen a 1960s tower block demolished to make way for 100 new homes, of which almost half will be in the 2.5-acre section acquired by Etaireia.

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