Chartered surveyors Hardies Property & Construction Consultants has acquired Glasgow-based construction cost consultants Binnie-McKenzie Partnership.

A small, highly experienced and client-focused consultancy, Binnie-McKenzie Partnership delivers best value advice and support to clients in the private and public sectors through the provision of quantity surveying; cost consultancy; employers agency and project management services.

The acquisition comes 18 months after Hardies merged with Shepherd Chartered Surveyors.

Murray Warner, partner at Hardies, said: “Following our successful merger with Shepherd Chartered Surveyors we have been able to further invest in quality staff across the business and fund this acquisition which is key to our effective delivery of construction services in the west of Scotland. We are actively seeking to consolidate our operations in Scotland prior to a planned expansion south of the border.

“What differentiates Hardies from our competitors is our in-depth local market knowledge. We have 10 offices throughout Scotland and, as part of our growth strategy, recognised a need for local Quantity Surveying expertise in Glasgow to complement our local Building Surveying team. This acquisition gives us that with the addition of a team of five Quantity Surveyors and all Binnie-McKenzie Partnership’s history and experience, contacts and clients across the West of Scotland and North of England.

“Hardies has a real people-orientated culture; we invest in and look after our staff, and that culture is shared by Binnie-McKenzie Partnership.”

Stewart Binnie-McKenzie, founder of the boutique, quality-focused Construction Cost Consultancy, added: “This is a merger between like-minded people who share a common culture. We have worked alongside Hardies on various projects for the last 18 months or so, and I have known Shepherd Chartered Surveyors in Glasgow for over 15 years, so we all are familiar with each firms’ working culture and aspirations.

“This acquisition enables us to offer our clients a broader range of services from a far greater resource that opens up various new opportunities for us, such as an ability to exploit the potential inherent in the buoyant social housing sector. Hardies is acquiring a profitable, successful practice; indeed this is our most successful year to date with in excess of £0.5m fee income generated this year, but we anticipate that this will increase significantly following this deal.”

While the Binnie-McKenzie Partnership name will be retained, the firm will relocate from its Sauchiehall Street premises to Hardies’ St Vincent Street office in the heart of Glasgow city centre.

Warner explained: “The relocation will help bring the teams together and deliver synergy across Binnie-McKenzie Partnership’s Quantity Surveyors, Hardies’ Building Surveyors and Shepherd’s Chartered Surveyors.

“Stewart is already exploring the possibilities for expanding our QS service in Glasgow, while assisting the development of our existing Building Surveying service, and we anticipate an immediate need to recruit a Project Manager and a Principal Designer in Glasgow, while our Building Surveying team will grow as part of the synergy realised by the acquisition, enabling both parties to offer clients a broader range of construction consultancy services.”

Under the terms of the deal, Stewart Binnie-McKenzie becomes a partner of Hardies while long-standing Binnie-McKenzie Partnership director Gary Skene will lead Hardies QS team in Glasgow and the West of Scotland. The combined businesses currently generate a fee income of £25 million.