Seven years after Scotland’s Barr was acquired by McLaughlin & Harvey of Northern Ireland, the two businesses are being merged into a single entity under a single trading brand.
The new enlarged McLaughlin & Harvey will have a turnover of more than £400m.
Philip Cheevers, chairman of Barr Holdings Ltd and managing director of McLaughlin & Harvey, said: “We have been part of one group for seven years already, so it makes sense to bring Barr Construction and McLaughlin & Harvey together. This is a positive move which allows us to bring all of the expertise of the wider group under the same umbrella.
“By working together, the combined McLaughlin & Harvey will be in a strong position to create jobs, attract the best talent in the industry and compete for larger contracts and projects we cannot currently approach independently.
“After a few difficult years as a result of the global economic situation, the sector as a whole appears to be on the road to recovery and our ambition, in integrating Barr Construction and McLaughlin & Harvey, is to jointly create a much more significant force in the UK construction industry.”
The rebranding of the construction division under the McLaughlin & Harvey name will not result in any job losses and both the management team and Barr’s current Paisley HQ will remain in place.
The Barr Environmental waste management division is unaffected.
The move follows the sale by the Barr group of the Barr Quarries operation to Breedon Aggregates for £20.8m earlier this year.
The transfer to the McLaughlin & Harvey brand is expected to take place early in 2015.
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