Scottish building services and construction contractor, McGill has announced that it will now accept cryptocurrency as payment for services delivered.

The company has partnered with leading payment gateway provider, CoinGate, to accept payment in over 50 different crypto coins including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dogecoin.

The interest in cryptocurrency has grown exponentially in recent years with more consumers looking to put the new currency to use. McGill are one of the first and only building services companies in the UK to accept cryptocurrency payments.

This announcement comes shortly after McGill bolstered their top team by appointing the highly experienced Sharon Craig to the board in the role of Director of Finance.

New Director of Finance Sharon Craig commented: "McGill is an ambitious, innovative and forward-thinking business and we always want to stay ahead of the curve. Our decision to accept cryptocurrency was an easy and obvious one. Many consumers now hold this form of currency, so we will accept it as payment, it really is as simple as that. We expect interest from the domestic or private market, though I don't believe it will be too long before local authorities and other public sector organisations start to explore crypto as a payment option."

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It is estimated that there are now over 20,000 businesses around the world where cryptocurrency is an accepted form of payment. Recently the Financial Conduct Authority announced that approximately 2.3million people in the UK held cryptocurrency, and they expect this to rise by around 400,000 over the year. Despite the growing popularity of crypto, there are under 1,000 businesses accepting the currency in the UK.

McGill Commercial Director Douglas Smith added: "There is a lot of cryptocurrency in the UK, but hardly anywhere to spend it; why wouldn't people want to pay for their new boiler, or the installation of an new alarm, with cryptocurrency? The construction industry is often accused of being slow to adopt new (off-site) technologies, but McGill always have one eye on the horizon, looking towards the future. Accepting cryptocurrency is just one of the ways that we are modernising the business to secure long-term future success. We have grown this business quickly, by being bold and pushing boundaries, and we continue to look for the next new thing."