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28 May 2018

£80m order book as Robertson Eastern enters new financial year

£80m order book as Robertson Eastern enters new financial year

Robertson in strong position as host of projects get underway

Robertson is forecasting a bright new financial year for its Eastern business with an £80m order book and a range of projects now underway.

Robertson Eastern operates in an area encompassing Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Angus.

A number of projects are already progressing with work ranging from student accommodation to social housing, further projects with NHS Grampian and showroom developments for John Clark Motor Group.

We're tremendously pleased to be starting the financial year with such a strong order book. The fact that we're seeing so much repeat business is very encouraging.

It's a varied portfolio of design and build projects that we have been working with clients on and I also look forward to seeing some more of these come to fruition at the end of the year.

It has been a challenging market but we made a strategic decision to develop work in sectors where there was greater activity such as student accommodation and affordable housing. We are involved with over one thousand student rooms and over three-hundred and fifty affordable homes. With some confidence returning to the property market we need to add to this impressive start to the year and are constantly seeking future opportunities.

Two developments are progressing for Superscheme Limited, part of the Watkin Jones Group. Caledon Court student accommodation, adjacent to the main RGU Campus at Garthdee, will see 199 new student beds made available with a mix of studio flats and apartments. Scheduled to complete this summer, ahead of the new university term, work is progressing well on-site with the show flat now open for viewing.

A second project for the same client will see the Pittodrie Street student community grow further with development ongoing for an additional 618 beds. This project will be completed in two phases with Block B scheduled for the 2018 University year and Block A in the summer of 2019.

The company is once again working in partnership with Grampian Housing Association to deliver nearly £25m of much needed affordable homes across the North East. Projects across Aberdeen city and shire see developments in Ballater, Fraserburgh and Peterhead as well as a 101 unit development, aimed at key workers, to be built close to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI).

These projects were procured through Scape Group's National Major Works framework, now superseded by the Major Works Scotland part of the (Scape) National Construction framework, and delivered by Robertson in partnership with Willmott Dixon. The ARI key worker accommodation, with a project value of £14m, was procured through the Major Works Scotland framework and is scheduled to start on-site this spring.

The team at Robertson Eastern is now mobilising for the final phase of the five-year, £52m programme of work at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI). This on-going project is worth £4.5m to the business and will include a range of improvements to the ground and basement levels with a focus on improving facilities for the Pharmacy department all within a live environment. Other works at ARI include improvements to the central stores, lift upgrades, re-roofing works and the creation of the new Day of Surgery Admissions unit.

There are also a number of new projects underway with John Clark Motor Group (JCMG). Work has now commenced to deliver a new Jaguar Land Rover showroom in Dundee, while the refurbishment of the Jaguar Land Rover showroom in Elgin has also begun. A BMW, Mini, Motorrad showroom in Dundee will start in the summer with other projects to follow.