The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
McGill lands deal for electrical and safety work at care village
A £500,000 contract for electrical and safety work at a Fife “care village” has been awarded to a Dundee firm.
McGill will take on the work at the Methil site on behalf of Fife Council.
The contract will see the firm install a range of measures, including fire alarms, nurse and warden call systems, induction loop, CCTV and access controls.
The Methil Care Village, which has been in planning for the past few years, has been lauded as one of the most innovative and creative care facilities offered in Scotland.
The village, located on the former Kirkland High School site on Methilhaven Road, includes a two-storey, 36-bedroom residential care home, specific needs housing and a new early years centre.
McGill fire and security manager Billy Robertson said: “We are delighted to continue our relationship with Fife Council and to be involved in such a prestigious project.
“The Methil Care Village is a flagship development and demonstrates the commitment of Fife Council to invest in new and innovative projects.
“My team are excited to get started and play their part, which will see us working right across the sheltered housing development complex.”
McGill has worked with Fife Council for the past 25 years.
It has installed and maintained warden call systems, installed telecare devices, and delivered day-to-day repairs of door entry systems and smoke detectors in sheltered housing properties.
Global engineering and consultancy Wood has “momentum” on its side after a “resilient” performance in a difficult year, the company’s boss said yesterday.
Robin Watson, chief executive, was upbeat about prospects for the Aberdeen firm after a strong finish to 2020 and good start to the new trading year.
He was speaking after Wood announced pre-tax losses of £107 million for last year, compared with profits of £107m in 2019, on revenue that was down by 23.5% at £5.44 billion.
And in a measure of the impact of Covid-19 and a slump in commodity prices on its global operations, Wood started this year with around 10,000 fewer employees – stripping out the impact of asset sales – than at the beginning of 2020.
Mr Watson said the headcount had reduced to about 40,000 from around 55,000 this time last year, with 5,000 employees also leaving the group via disposals.
The resilience he referred to was based on the company continuing to win new work around the world, as well as its success in cutting costs quickly to protect margins – these fell only slightly to 8.3% on an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation basis – and reducing its net debt by £295m to £727m by the end of last year.
Wood’s order book for 2021 delivery was worth about £4.7bn at the end of 2020, down by around 17% on a year earlier due to “macro-conditions and discerning bidder approach”.
But Mr Watson said the company had started 2021 with “a bit of headroom” and was “seeing some momentum” in the order book.
“It has been year,” he said.
“But we have been able to benefit from the strategic repositioning we have been doing for the past five years.
“This has allowed us to respond to exceptionally turbulent market conditions.”
Mr Watson said the firm’s broad base of expertise and experience meant it was well-placed to play a key role in the energy transition.
Achieving net-zero goals will take more than just “banter” he said, adding: “You need engineers and consultants. a tough
“They are the ones who are going to provide the solutions.”
Wood said discussions concerning investigations by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office and authorities in the US, Brazil and Scotland were at an advanced stage and likely to result in settlements during the second quarter of 2021.
These are expected to cost the group about £142m, with a provision of £33m having already been booked in the 2019 accounts. The remainder of the total is accounted for by a provision in the 2020 figures.
The fraud inquiries relate to the past activities of Amec Foster Wheeler (AFW) along with “predecessor companies and associated persons”, and are part of a wider corruption probe into the activities of Monaco-based Unaoil. Wood completed its £2.2bn acquisition of AFW in 2017.
Stuart Lamont, investment manager in the Aberdeen office of wealth manager Brewin Dolphin, said: “There are still significant challenges ahead but, with a plan for growth, Wood is in a decent position as the economy and its markets move towards recovery.”