David Gaffney

David Gaffney, managing director of Gladedale, said: "There is no reason to say that if the Tulloch deal had proceeded that we would not still have looked at Bett with the same vigour.One was not predicated on the other."

Bett cements Gladedale's position in the north of England and Scotland, with a landbank of 5,000 plots and another 6,000 under option.Bett's standard home template will complement Gladedale's more upmarket offering.

Its average sale price last year of £135,000 falls behind Glade-dale's £220,000, although it has a greater presence in the pricier south-east of England.

Gladedale Group directors David Gaffney and Remo Dipre, who have been aggressively expanding throughout the UK through acquisitions, have an ambitious game plan to build between 1500 and 2000 residential units annually in Scotland within three years.

David Gaffney, Gladedale Group Managing Director commented, "This has been a very exciting project requiring huge commitment from all involved.

32. David GaffneyQuartermile group managing director, Gladedale Homes Epsom-based house-builder Gladedale brought a 50 per cent share in Edinburgh's Quartermile project and took responsibility for running the project in 2005.This year the Quartermile project is coming out of the ground and Gladedale's subsidiary Betts Homes is building across Scotland.Gaffney heads the group with fellow director Remo Dipre.

Gladedale managing director David Gaffney said: 'Existing CastleGait sites will trade out.'

Bett's average selling price of £135,000 is far below the average selling prices of £225,000 and £250,000 for Gladedale Group's two property brands, respectively Gladedale and Furlong.Gaffney said the intention is gradually to raise the selling figure over time.Last year Bett made pre-tax profits of £17m on turnover of £116m.Gladedale made profits of £7.2m on sales of £62.5m.

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Web report: Iraq

Steve Menary talks to founder Remo Dipre and md David Gaffney about how it all started and where the company is heading
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Remo Dipre (left) and David Gaffney
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It was his first venture to Scotland, before the Bett deal, that led Gladedale's founder to his md David Gaffney.He may be just 38, but he is the person that Dipre hopes will grow sales at Gladedale to 6,000 units in the next few years.
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We asked around to give us an idea of building costs and that was how I was introduced to David."

Born in East Kilbride and then working for Bellway, Gaffney soon made up his mind to leave.He says: "This was my first opportunity to be engaged with the south and I felt that Remo was someone I could work with."

Within three months of Gaffney joining, Gladedale had bought out Bett and placed itself high up the list of housebuilders to watch.
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Gaffney explains: "We want to retain the regional brands as their portfolios are often diametrically opposite.Bett in North West England is a standard three to four bedroom housebuilder, but C&M in that region is more like an Urban Splash company and the brands sit well together."

There will be few changes at NCH, which actually builds out schemes, other than to step up the sales, but C&M's policy of using contractors to build out projects will end."That won't happen overnight but we're looking to develop the C&M stuff ourselves," adds Gaffney.

C&M had also grown by turning to financial institutions such as Close Brothers for joint venture funding and that too will stop.Gaffney adds: "We don't see that as a way of moving the business forward.