No groundworker listed in Portlethen yet.

A groundworker handles the unseen work that supports a building - excavation, foundations, drainage runs, sub-bases, site clearance and grading - everything below ground level before the bricklayers and joiners arrive.

Get a soil and ground-conditions check on any site you don't already know - clay, made-up ground or peat each call for different foundation strategies and ignoring this is the most expensive mistake on a build.

Make sure any drainage work is signed off in writing - groundworks that fail building control later are a nightmare to retrofit once a slab has been poured.

Portlethen sits on the coast roughly eight miles south of Aberdeen and has grown substantially since the 1970s, transforming from a small village into a sizeable commuter settlement. Its position close to the A90 dual carriageway and the Aberdeen bypass makes it one of the most accessible communities in the region.

The town has a good range of local amenities including a large retail park, primary and secondary schools, a swimming pool and sports facilities. Several distinct housing areas have developed over the decades, ranging from the older village core to modern estates.

Despite its rapid growth, Portlethen retains pockets of rural character, particularly around the old village and the dramatic cliffside coastline to the east. The coastal path running south towards Newtonhill and Stonehaven is a popular walking route. The community is well served by a railway station providing regular services into Aberdeen and southward.

(opens in new tab)

Aberdeenshire is one of the largest council areas in Scotland, wrapping around the city of Aberdeen in a broad arc that stretches from the Cairngorms in the west to the North Sea coast in the east and from the Angus border in the south to the Moray Firth in the north.

The region is extraordinarily varied: Royal Deeside - the valley of the River Dee running west from Aberdeen through Banchory, Aboyne, Ballater and Braemar - is one of Scotland's most celebrated landscapes, closely associated with the royal family through Balmoral Castle. The Donside valley to the north offers a quieter, equally attractive alternative.

The north-east coast has a distinctive character shaped by centuries of fishing, with harbours at Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Macduff and a string of smaller ports that once landed vast quantities of herring and white fish. Peterhead remains one of the busiest fishing ports in Europe and the coastal towns retain a strong working identity.

Inland, the rolling farmland of Buchan, the Garioch and the Mearns supports a productive agricultural economy. Market towns like Inverurie, Ellon, Huntly and Turriff serve as local centres for their surrounding districts and many have grown significantly as commuter settlements for Aberdeen.

The North Sea oil and gas industry transformed the region's economy from the 1970s onward, bringing prosperity and population growth to towns within commuting distance of Aberdeen. That legacy continues in the energy transition, with Aberdeenshire positioning itself at the centre of Scotland's renewable energy future.