GORDONS Construction Equipment is opening its seventh location – and first in central Scotland – this summer.
The new depot for the Castle Douglas-headquartered business will be located in Blairgowrie, Perthshire. It will join six existing six sites across south west Scotland and Carlisle.
The move is part of a triple expansion for the family-owned company as it also becomes a licensed dealership for two other major brands: Dieci and Bomag. Combined with Develon, which Gordons has the exclusive dealership for in Scotland, this will make the business a one-stop shop for digging, material moving, lifting, and compaction equipment.
“We are really excited about this next stage,” said Kevin Fraser, one of four directors. “Dieci and Bomag perfectly complement the Develon offering to give our customers the full spectrum of kit they need for every scale of project, while the Blairgowrie depot will give our customers in the east and morth of Scotland a chance to come and see the equipment more conveniently.
“Importantly, it also means we will be able to offer a prompt service to these regions of Scotland with both parts and engineer support.”
Formed in 1865 by James Gordon, and bought by the Montgomerie family 100 years ago, Gordons was originally a supplier of agricultural equipment, expanding into construction in 2017.
The Blairgowrie depot is Gordons’ first construction-only site with a range of machinery for different types of businesses and projects including house and factory building contractors, landscape gardeners, joiners, waste handling, forestry and peatland restoration. The depot is also tipped to be a boost for farmers looking to buy diggers, telehandlers, and other equipment for farm and land management.
Dieci includes a range of tele and rotation handlers, while Bomag specialises in compaction equipment including road rollers, planers and recyclers. This offering complements Develon’s range of excavation equipment.
“All three of these companies reflect our values and quality of service,” Kevin added. “Their innovation and advanced technology create high industry standards in productivity, safety, operator comfort and sustainability which we are very pleased to be able to offer our customers.”
The Blairgowrie site was bought from Fergus Mitchell, who is retiring, and Gordons Construction Equipment added that it looks forward to building on the reputation and service he has built. Ahead of the opening of the new depot, local businesses have been employed to create hard standing and a new workshop and showroom. Electric car chargers will also be installed and there are solar panels on the roof for powering the site.
Gordons, which has an annual turnover of £65 million and won this year’s award for Best Heavy Machinery Dealer and Gold Level for Service award at the Develon Dealer Conference in Rome, currently employs 110 people. It is recruiting locally for staff for the Blairgowrie depot, including mechanics and administration roles.
Rab Robertson of Taiga Upland, who has bought a range of Develon equipment from Gordons for fencing and forestry infrastructure work, said, “We are really pleased that Gordons Construction Equipment is opening a depot in Blairgowrie. They are a great firm to work with, which starts with really good advice when buying but also brilliant after service when we’ve had breakdowns or need parts. This is very important when time is money, so having a site on this side of the country will be great for both seeing what’s on offer and for getting parts and engineers to us those few hours’ quicker.”
An open day will be arranged in September. In the meantime, Gordons Construction Equipment will be at ScotPlant on 24 & 25 April at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh to showcase its range from all three partners, including the Scottish debut of Develon’s new Series 9 range of smart crawler excavators. Gordons will also be at the Royal Highland Show and the Black Isle Show.
