Tayside civil engineering firm Kilmac has opened a new West Lothian base to handle a growing number of projects.
The new hub for more than 20 office staff, engineers, surveyors and labourers will manage Kilmac’s projects in central Scotland.
The firm has expanded operations towards Aberdeen and Edinburgh in recent years, but the new Mid Calder site is the first outside Tayside.
It remains headquartered in Tayside, with offices in both Dundee and Perth.
As the Scottish construction industry bounces back from lockdown, Kilmac founding directors Athole McDonald and Richard Kilcullen have targeted a 50% increase in turnover to £30 million within the next three years.
Its turnover for the year ending September 30 2020 reached £13.2m.
New projects for Kilmac
That goal has prompted the firm to embrace major groundworks projects beyond their traditional Tayside and Fife heartland.
“Before the pandemic struck, we had boosted our turnover to £14m.
“Despite everything going on hold for two months during lockdown, we came close to matching that,” explained Mr McDonald.
Kilmac has picked up projects worth more than £10m in and around West Lothian over the last couple of years.
Last year, the firm completed a contract with Aldi at their new Livingston store.
With the scope of contracts beyond Tayside, the directors felt the time was right to create a new base.
Mr McDonald said: “The decision to have a presence in the Livingston area makes sense from a geographical point of view.
“We have been working in the town with Muir Construction on extensions to the Alba campus laboratories, as well as the Aldi store.
“Those projects each came in around the £1.5 million mark.
“Hard on the heels of a contract with McLaughlin and Harvey at the University of Edinburgh’s Nucleus project, we secured contracts with BAM Construction for two West Lothian Council special needs schools at Cedarbank and Pinewood.
“The offices provide scope for expansion and new jobs as we continue to grow our presence and client base.”
The construction firm recently committed to make its entire fleet of vans electric.