Stewart Milne founded the Stewart Milne Group in 1975 and built the business to become one of the country’s leading independent housebuilders.
In a career spanning more than five decades, the 71-year-old has become one of the leading figures in the UK construction industry and, through his chairmanship of Aberdeen FC, a driving force in Scottish football.
In his role as executive chairman, he has been leading the strategic direction of the organisation and overseeing the performance of the senior team.
He advocates an open and encouraging culture that takes advantage of commercial opportunities, which, paired with his leadership, supports the business in meeting its corporate goals and objectives.
An electrician to trade, gaining his City & Guilds in Electrical Engineering in 1971, Mr Milne started out specialising in tenement flat renovations in Aberdeen.
He was determined to reduce the normal three-month disruption to homeowners to three days. He achieved this through the adoption of a systematic, team approach.
When the company moved into housebuilding in the mid 70’s, it adopted a similar approach using timber systems, and timberframe has been at the heart of the business since then.
Indeed, Stewart Milne Group was a leading pioneer in modern methods of construction and off-site construction using timber systems.
His contributions to the construction industry and the North-east economy have been widely recognised and he was awarded a CBE for services to construction in 2008.
He has received honorary doctorates from Robert Gordon University, Napier University and Herriot Watt University and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from industry body Homes for Scotland in 2014, the Scottish Business Achievement Award in 1993, the Chartered Institute of Building Open Award in 1998 and Scottish Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005.