Our new Scotland region

In January, we announced that our Northern Region would be split to form two separate regions – Northern Region and Scotland Region. This split was designed to more accurately reflect our customers’ needs and help us to lead the future

of housebuilding by putting customers at the heart of everything we do. Foundations caught up with Doug McLeod, Regional Managing Director of Scotland, to find out more about the new region.

Why was the new Scotland Region created? There are many reasons why, the first being the Scottish range of house types. These are quite different compared to England and Wales due to Scotland having a completely different set of building regulations, higher thermal values for properties and the requirement to build new homes for lifetime standards, requiring larger houses. We’re also required to provide different elevational treatments to meet the requirements of local planners. How does the Scotland Region compare with our competitors? We have delivered more legal completions than any of our competitors, with an average sales rate per outlet slightly over 0.7. Moreover, with the increasing availability of land in Scotland the senior management team is focused on continuing the growth of the business and increasing our market share. Tell us about your recent award wins. Homes for Scotland is the Scottish Industry equivalent of the HBF, the recent award for Homebuilder of the Year 2017 is the first time a volume house builder has won this prestigious award. The award is recognition of the quality of our product, our people and the service that we provide to our customers. The judging team particularly commented on the high level of engagement Barratt has undertaken with the local community and the pride, passion and commitment of our sales and construction team on site. What does the future hold for Scotland? Scotland as a region has delivered its highest number of legal completions in a generation and there are more land opportunities available to allow Barratt to continue the growth of the region in the foreseeable future.