As Kirkwood Homes celebrates 40 years of designing and building luxury homes, we're reflecting on our incredible journey alongside some of our long standing dedicated team members, who have been instrumental in maintaining quality across all aspects of Kirkwood Homes.
A Quantity Surveyor by trade, Malcolm Ritchie began his career at Kirkwood over 10 years ago. We chatted with Malcolm to find out how he has contributed to the success of the business, what has made him so passionate about working at Kirkwood Homes and what changes he expects to see within the industry in the coming 40 years…
Can you tell us about your role and your background?
“I worked as a Quantity Surveyor over many years and joined Kirkwood Homes at a senior QS position in September 2014, before being promoted to Commercial Manager in October 2018. In my current role, I manage the surveying and commercial team plus the senior buyer and have responsibility for the build costs across all our developments. In short, we collectively control the budgets for live, past and upcoming developments.”
What has kept you at Kirkwood Homes after all this time?
“Honestly, I don’t get out of bed dreading going to work! Every day is different and has its challenges of course, but overall I enjoy working at Kirkwood. My colleagues are also great which definitely makes a difference, and there’s excellent career progression opportunities too.”
What is it like being a part of the Kirkwood team?
“My previous company felt like a small family business, and when I moved to Kirkwood that feeling actually continued - even though the team was much larger. Despite its size, Kirkwood has that family-run ethos which is so nice to be a part of.
“There is an open door policy here, from the Managing Director all the way down, which makes communication and decision making really easy.
“We’re also a very social bunch of people - we’re forever organising nights out, and it feels like you’re coming to work with your friends.”
Share a memorable moment from your time at Kirkwood Homes…
“Lots of memories come to mind, but my promotion to Commercial Manager is up at the top. This promotion came as a welcome surprise, and showed that I was a trusted team member our leadership team had confidence in. This was a very memorable day for me.
“Our DD1 Hawkhill development, which was 45 luxury two bedroom apartments located in my home city of Dundee, is another fond memory of mine. Not only was it an interesting project to work on, with a full timber kit erected, it also sold very quickly and was the company’s first apartment development of that scale. The project came in on budget and completed on time, making it a very satisfying memory from the 10 years I’ve been here.”
What have been some of the most important lessons you’ve learned throughout your career at Kirkwood Homes?
“In my previous role, prior to working at Kirkwood, I was basically in touch with the same people over and over again. Here, I work alongside colleagues within various departments and also interact closely with our subcontractors, especially now that we are expanding to different locations. I feel that I have definitely improved upon my communication and people skills because of this.”
How do you feel you have contributed to the success of Kirkwood Homes?
“Given that my main role is to consistently monitor and control costs, I believe I have helped the business continue to thrive overall. Although our geographical reach has extended beyond Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire into Broughty Ferry, Fife, Perth and beyond, we are still delivering the same Kirkwood quality product, regardless of the location.
“My team is also always looking into ways to make Kirkwood Homes stand out, stay ahead of the game in terms of competitors, and ultimately continue to enhance the quality of our homes - as this is central to everything we strive for as a company. We’re always exploring new specification options for kitchens, bathrooms and more, for example it was based on an initial suggestion from our Senior Buyer that Kirkwood moved to our current Mexicano oak doors - a firm favourite with our clients!”
How has the industry evolved in the last 40 years?
“There is now a real focus on energy efficient homes, and it’s been so interesting being part of the evolution of our portfolio to embrace new technologies within this space, whether that be air source heat pumps or solar panels. This is a huge attraction for customers too, and our team is very proactive with this to help deliver a product that is not only more environmentally friendly, but also reduces running costs for homeowners.”
Looking ahead to the next 40 years, how do you envision the future of Kirkwood Homes?
“We’ve been expanding our geographical spread of developments, and I think this will continue. I’m from Dundee, and when I started working here, I didn’t know the Kirkwood brand. But as we’ve grown into areas such as Dundee, Broughty Ferry, Fife and Perth, the brand awareness of the company is increasing - and Kirkwood is fast becoming one of the go-to developers which is amazing to see.
“I see the next 40 years taking us further afield across Scotland, with our core business remaining in Aberdeen, while still maintaining our exceptionally high level of quality and specification in all of our homes.”