MEARNS BUILDER Vic Peterkin has scooped top prize for construction of the best new homes in Scotland for a stunning transformation of a derelict farm steading.

His company, Peterkin Homes, was chosen from hundreds of entries this year in the fiercely contested Master Builder of the Year Awards. The awards are part of a nationwide search by the Federation of Master Builders, the construction industry’s largest trade association, for the best builders in Britain—all of whom must be nominated by satisfied customers.

The winning project was the conversion into three houses of a former steading at Chapelton Farm near on the outskirts of the village of Auchenblae, which was nominated independently by two of the new homeowners—one of whom had bought two previous houses from Mr Peterkin and wanted another built to the same high standards.

Both sets of homeowners, Mr and Mrs Andrew Martin and Professor Neil Gow and Dr Auld, agreed to buy the properties before work started and were able to input their own ideas and closely follow progress.

Said Prof. Gow, “Trust and a personal approach was a hallmark of the whole experience. We started with a well-thought-out design and were allowed to customise this further to create something exactly to our specifications. The finished house was even better than we ever imagined.”

Heartily endorsing his comments, Mr Martin added, “We don’t ever want to move, but if we did Mr Peterkin would build the house. No question.”

Crediting the award to all the sub-contractors, all locally sourced from within a 25-mile radius of the firm’s Auchenblae base, Mr Peterkin said, “It is a tribute to all the hard work of the whole team—masons, joiners, brickies, roofers, site contractors and so on—not to mention those in the office holding it all together. It is especially pleasing as we were nominated by our clients.”

Peterkin Homes will now represent Scotland in September in the UK final of the Master Builder of the Year Awards, the winners of which will be announced and presented with their awards by Sarah Beeny of the television series Property Ladder.

Director of FMB Scotland, Grahame Barn said, “These awards are the industry’s response to all those bad builder stories.”

The federation’s director general Ian Davis added, “In an industry where customers’ complaints are heard louder than praise, these awards prove there are plenty of brilliant builders across the UK.”

The national winner will pick up the coveted Master Builder of the Year title and a new light commercial vehicle of the firm’s own choice. As handsome reward for the nomination, the builder’s happy customers can pack their bags for a £3000 holiday.