Mr Ridley joins the company having spent 18 years at South Tyneside Homes, where he progressed from heating engineer to team leader and later manager, responsible for ensuring maintenance works on its extensive housing stock were completed correctly and on time.

In his new role, Kevin is managing CMS’s planned and reactive maintenance projects across Scotland.

He said: “I’m pleased to join CMS in a role that allows me to both progress my career and use my extensive experience to deliver a first-class service for our commercial clients.”

The team, which covers an area stretching from Stranraer in the south to Wick in the far north, recently expanded from eight to 11 in-house engineers and apprentices. It is currently recruiting a further two engineers.

Tyneside-headquartered CMS provides a nationwide 24/7 service to businesses, installing, maintaining, and repairing business-critical systems including heating, hot water, electricals, catering, and refrigeration.

Clients include HC One Care Homes, Travelodge, Iron Mountain, and Sanctuary Scotland.

Nic Smith, CMS operations director, said: “Kevin is an astute appointment as he understands the whole process, given his range of experience runs from engineer through to maintenance manager.

“Kevin had a great deal of responsibility at South Tyneside Homes and CMS is already benefiting from his knowledge and skill as it responds to an ever-growing client list in Scotland.”