St Andrews Timber & Building Supplies has appointed Jake Valente as its first Group Operations Manager as the Edinburgh-based firm continues to expand.

Mr Valente steps up into the newly-created role after six years with the family-run business where he was most recently branch manager at its Prestonfield headquarters.

He has over 40 years of experience in the sector and will take on responsibility for all four branches – Prestonfield and Stenhouse in Edinburgh as well as Livingston and Paisley.

The wide-ranging role will be based at the HQ in the capital and will include overseeing logistics, vehicle and machinery training, project management as well as health and safety performance and compliance.

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"There are very few people with the knowledge and experience that Jake has built up in over four decades in the sector," said managing director Ronnie Robinson.

"That made him the obvious candidate for this role. I'm sure he will thrive on the added responsibility as we continue to evolve our processes and structure to ensure we keep improving our day-to-day operations."

Established 22 years ago at Prestonfield in the shadow of Arthur's Seat, St Andrews is now one of the largest independent builders' merchants in Scotland.

With over 100 members of staff, the firm prides itself on empowering individuals to better themselves and an internal promotion will see Mr Valente replaced as Prestonfield branch manager by Richard Harley, who joined the firm 12 years ago.

"With his extensive management knowledge, Richard was the natural replacement and will slot in perfectly," added Mr Robinson.

"We always try to promote from within, so we are always looking to uplift our current staff and empower them with new roles and responsibilities. As the company continues to grow, the need for more specialised positions is increasing and I envision further new roles being created as part of our growth strategy."