Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

New schools help Dundee firm Kilmac to record profits

Kilmac has found new levels of success since moving to employee ownership.

Kilmac founders Athole McDonald and Richard Kilcullen outside their Dundee headquarters in Gemini Crescent. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson
Kilmac founders Athole McDonald and Richard Kilcullen outside their Dundee headquarters in Gemini Crescent. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

Dundee construction firm Kilmac achieved record profits last year as it worked on several major local school projects.

It is 21 years since Athole McDonald and Richard Kilcullen formed the business, which moved to employee ownership in 2022.

It now has around 180 members of staff on the payroll, an all-time high.

Newly filed accounts, for the year ending September 2024, show further growth after record results in 2023.

Sales grew further to £29.9 million in the financial year, from £26.6m in 2023. Pre-tax profits also increased, to £2.4m, from £1.7m in the previous 12 months.

Kilmac school projects boosts profits

The company has been involved in several high-profile developments in Tayside and Fife.

These include the new Perth High School, the James Hutton Institute in Invergowrie, Monifieth Learning Campus and the Blairgowrie Recreation Centre.

Finance director Julie Scobie said: “It has been encouraging to see turnover and profitability rising for the financial year.

“We are still busy and the target is to slightly increase turnover over the next financial year.

An aerial shot of the new Monifieth learning campus under construction. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson

“The Dunfermline Learning Campus has been another prestigious contract for us. It has been hailed the biggest Passivhaus educational centre in the world.

“On the back of this and our previous work with Robertson Construction delivering the North Muirton Primary School in Perth, we have established a reputation as Scotland’s leading company in the energy efficient Passivhaus sector.”

Looking to extend geographical reach

The company has also picked up the groundworks contract for Robertson Construction to deliver the new Clackmannanshire Council wellbeing hub and school near Alloa.

This has also been designed to meet Passivhaus standards.

Kilmac, which also has an office in Dunfermline, is looking to pick up more work in the Central Belt.

Bid director James Wilson adds: “With an eye to the future, a few years ago we began looking to extend our area of operation to take in projects in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Kilmac board directors Richard Kilcullen, Athole McDonald, Julie Scobie, Liam Wilkie and James Wilson at the company's new Dunfermline office.
Kilmac directors Richard Kilcullen, Athole McDonald, Julie Scobie, Liam Wilkie and James Wilson at the company’s new Dunfermline office. Image: Kilmac

“We established offices in Dunfermline and Livingston to handle clients in the Central Belt.

“That has broadened our horizons and we have taken on additional staff to deliver contracts coming in from further afield.

“This ensures we can continue our plan for growth while becoming less reliant on one operational area.”

Conversation