COMPANY PROFILE
Established in 1966 by Jim Darroch and the late Joe Allan, the business now carries out all types of Joinery, Building and Main Contracting Works within the Moray area.
In 1987 the partnership increased in size, with Andrew Fordyce and Jim Spence joining the management team, both Andrew and Jim having joined the company from school. In 1996 Jim Darroch retired, leaving the business in the hands of Andrew and Jim.
Up until 1997 Darroch & Allan were purely Joinery Contractors, but in order to achieve greater continuity and control of larger contracts, it was decided to create an in-house Building Division, this was set up under the management of John Holliday. John’s experience and dedication has ensured that this decision has been an overwhelming success. Philip McPherson joined our management team as Senior Quantity Surveyor in 2000; Philip brought nearly 20 years experience in the local construction industry. Philip’s professionalism and commitment has allowed us to broaden our areas of expertise.
Since Jim Spence’s death in 2000, Andrew Fordyce had been the sole proprietor. Re-structuring early in 2002 saw the Joinery and Building companies merge to form a single limited company, thus realising our planned growth for the business.
As a result of the restructuring, John Holliday, Philip McPherson and foreman supervisor Paul Harrold were appointed as directors in early 2002.
In September 2006 a Traditional Masonry Conservation section, specialising in Lime Pointing and Harling was formed under the management of Jim Brindle.
Jim had worked with the company from May 2002 until September 2005 when after attending the Traditional Masonry Work and Conservation Course run by the Scottish Lime Centre Trust, he took a particular interest in lime work and through his own research and our training Jim’s interest grew to a passion which ultimately lead him to become a trainer with the Scottish Lime Centre Trust prior to rejoining the business.
2010 saw Darroch & Allan broadening its expertise by becoming approved Sarnafil Flat Roofing Contractors under the management of Andrew Fordyce.
In May 2015 Craig Stewart, a quantity surveyor who joined Darroch & Allan from school in 2001 was appointed as a director.
The loyal and dedicated workforce has helped the business grow steadily over the years. So that from modest beginnings, as a two-man operation, the business has grown into a fairly large joinery and building business, employing over 50 tradesmen and support staff.
In a small community such as Moray, when you are only as good as your last project and where a reputation can be destroyed by one bad job, it is of paramount importance to us that we deliver these three objectives time and time again.
As a company we are all acutely aware that client recommendations are not given readily and we are always keen to capitalise on the benefits of having a large and established client base. A large proportion of our new work comes following recommendations from existing clients, so it is vitally important that we do not disappoint either our existing or our new clients.
To ensure that Darroch & Allan are the preferred contractor for all existing and new clients, we will continue to build trust and confidence by offering cost saving options through innovative design, material selection and different building solutions.
The following is a list of some of our more well known longstanding clients:-
- NHS Grampian
- Johnstons of Elgin
- Moray Council
- Chivas Brothers
- Gordonstoun School
- Historic Scotland
- Wm Grant & Sons
- Walkers Shortbread
- Scottish Water
- Moray College
- Police Scotland
- Gordon & MacPhail
All of the above regularly use Darroch & Allan for response, planned maintenance and contract works.
We continually monitor our workforce to ensure that all are adequately trained, with particular emphasis being placed on Health & Safety. In 2007 we employed our own Health & Safety Manager, Fraser McKenzie with Graham Henderson taking over the role in 2010 who along with our SAFE (Safety Association of Federal Employers) continually monitor all of our sites on a random and unannounced basis. This process is reflected in our excellent Health and Safety record. Furthermore, Managing Director Andrew Fordyce is an active and dedicated board member of SAFE group.
By adopting this approach we believe that we can maintain the high quality of service and reputation built up over the past 50 years.