Strong performances from Scotland’s privately owned property and construction companies has boosted the industry in the past 12 months, according to a review of the country’s leading 100 private corporates by Grant Thornton.

The annual Scotland Ltd report assesses the commercial performance of Scotland’s top limited businesses. This year it shows that property and construction businesses make up 17% of the country’s top 100 private firms, an increase from 11% in 2014.

As a result of the increase in property and construction firms making the top 100 list, overall turnover has risen to £2.6 billion with employment for the industry doubling from 6,502 to 12,639 people.

Grant Thornton UK’s Scotland Ltd 2015 report is compiled using the most recent publicly available accounts of Scotland’s top performing private businesses, using a measure of turnover and profits.

Lorraine Macphail, Head of Property & Construction, Scotland, Grant Thornton UK, said: “It is heartening for the sector to see such a rise in employee numbers and profits. Major public sector infrastructure projects and an increase in house building and commercial schemes has provided a much needed boost for one of Scotland’s most important sectors. Action to unlock available land, reducing burdensome taxes and continued investment in public infrastructure projects will be the key to ensuring the sector maintains momentum.”

Key Scotland Ltd findings for Property and Construction sector:

  • Edinburgh and Glasgow are the top cities for P&C firms with 4 each
  • Total employee numbers are up to 12,639 from 6,502
  • Total turnover is up from £2.2bn in 2014 to £2.6bn in 2015
  • EBITDA for firms has risen from a loss of £19m to a profit of £163m
  • The cumulative result for P&C companies in the top 100 has improved form a loss of £39m to a profit of £128m

17 privately owned Scottish Property and Construction companies feature in the report including:

  • The Miller Group (UK) which is the top performing firm for turnover
  • Robertson Group (Holdings) Limited which is the strongest firm for EBITDA growth
  • G. Thomson (Holdings) Limited, which is the top performing business for employment growth

David Melhuish, Director, Scottish Property Federation, said: “The continued recovery from the depths of the financial crisis was very much the watchword for the property industry in Scotland last year. We saw a number of firms move ahead with projects and investments across the country in 2015 which provided a feeling of greater stability for the industry and helped added to the promising signs that the property and construction industry would continue its recovery and improve on its £6 billion plus contribution to the Scottish economy.”