New jobs created — in tablets of stone

Mar 12 2009 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

A COMPANY is bucking the economic trend by creating jobs at a new HQ in West Lothian.

Land Engineering has created 50 jobs by opening an office in Livingston as the new headquarters of its recently-launched division, Stone Engineering.

The company will provide services including traditional masonry, cladding work and repair and restoration services for historic buildings.

The newly-launched division is expected to play a significant role in Land Engineering’s growth plans for the year ahead.

And it is aimed at helping the company – which already employs 500 people in Scotland – continue to weather the economic downturn with a predicted turnover of £47million this year.

Managing director John Ronald, says the firm has a strong order book for the year ahead.

He said: “With the introduction of Stone Engineering, we will be extending our range of services, and our expertise in natural stone by providing an unrivalled offering to our public and private sector clients in Scotland and the North of England.”

The Livingston HQ will be headed by Charles Barrett and will be supported by Graeme Hadden and Ian Wilkinson.

Charles Barrett said: “Stone Engineering will provide a quality of service second to none in the stone cladding and restoration market.

“We believe this is the right time for us to capitalise on our industry knowledge and expertise in this market with a dedicated and highly-skilled management team and workforce.

“We see this as a tremendous growth opportunity for the future.”