Positive year for homebuilder in north-east
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A housebuilder has had a strong year in the north-east of Scotland despite the challenges of the past 12 months.
Barratt Developments North Scotland divison supplied £62m in gross value added while overall the company made a substantial contribution of £245m to the UK economy
In the year ending June 30, 2020, Barratt North Scotland has also completed 337 new homes and supported 980 direct, indirect and induced jobs across the north, north-east and Perthshire.
The firm is also focusing on sustainability and safeguarding the Scottish environment by creating nearly 23ha of green space. Barratt North Scotland has created 5.4ha of public green spaces and private gardens.
Barratt is working towards reducing its direct carbon emissions by 29 per cent by 2025 and indirect emissions by 24 per cent per square metre by 2030.
In the past year, CO2e emissions per 100m sq of completed build area fell to 2.11t. across the North Scotland business. Ninety-six per cent of construction waste was also saved from landfill and 17 per cent of new homes were built on previously developed land.
Managing Director of Barratt Homes North Scotland David Palmer said: “We’re not only the UK’s largest housebuilder, but we’re also leading the way in sustainability.
"Each of the 337 new homes we have completed over the past year have been in resilient and sustainable communities and helped deliver strong economic growth in the north.
“To have supported nearly a thousand jobs in the region – as well as kick-starting many new careers – is an achievement that we’re very proud of.”
As part of its housebuilding activity, Barratt North Scotland has made £1.3m in local contributions to help build new facilities and community infrastructure. This contribution includes the provision of 76 new school places.
More than £11m has also been spent on physical works within communities, such as highways, environmental improvements and community facilities.
Other key findings from the Barratt North Scotland 2020 socio-economic report include increased support for public services with £20m in generated tax revenues; more than £64,000 donated to local charitable and community causes; 280 supplier and 240 sub-contractor companies supported; increased support for the UK supply chain with 90 per cent of all components centrally procured, assembled or manufactured in-country; and more than £5.7m in retail spending by new residents, helping support 60 retail and service-related jobs.
The development of new and future talent remains a key priority for Barratt Developments Scotland and 56 graduates, apprentices and trainees launched their careers with the company in 2020, an increase from 50 in the previous year.
The assessment of Barratt Developments’ performance was carried out by independent consultants Lichfields, who analysed socio-economic impacts through the delivery chain for new housing based on Barratt datasets, published research and national statistics.
