No groundworker listed in Hawick 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.

Hawick is the largest town in the Scottish Borders, sitting at the confluence of the Teviot and Slitrig rivers in the heart of Teviotdale.

It was the centre of Scotland's knitwear and tweed industry for over two centuries - brands like Pringle of Scotland, Lyle & Scott and Peter Scott all originated here.

The annual Common Riding is one of the oldest and most passionately observed traditions in Scotland, commemorating a 1514 skirmish where local youths captured an English flag.

Hawick has a strong rugby culture, a working high street and a community identity that runs deeper than most towns its size.

The town sits on the A7 about 50 miles south of Edinburgh, with the Borders Railway at Tweedbank extending the public transport reach northward.

(opens in new tab)

The Scottish Borders is the largest council area in southern Scotland, stretching from the edge of Edinburgh and East Lothian in the north to the English border in the south.

It is a landscape of rolling hills, river valleys and market towns - the Tweed, Teviot, Ettrick and Yarrow rivers carve through countryside that has been fought over, farmed and written about for centuries.

Hawick and Galashiels are the largest towns, but the region's character is shaped by a string of smaller burghs - Kelso, Jedburgh, Peebles, Melrose and Selkirk - each with its own abbey ruins, common riding traditions, or rugby loyalties.

The Borders Railway, reopened in 2015, connects Tweedbank and Galashiels to Edinburgh Waverley, bringing the northern Borders within commuting distance of the capital for the first time in decades.

The region is known for its textile heritage, its abbeys and an outdoor culture built around hill walking, fishing, mountain biking and rugby - a place where community identity runs deep and the landscape is never far away.