A modular construction specialist with nearly four decades of experience—and recently recognized as Northern Ireland’s second fastest-growing company in 2025—is setting its sights on expanding its footprint in Scotland. The move follows P McVey Building Systems’ appointment to the £80 million Scottish Procurement Alliance (SPA) Modular Buildings (MB3) framework, a milestone that signals growing confidence in modular delivery for public sector projects.
Under the MB3 framework, P McVey has been approved across all four delivery streams: permanent modular buildings, healthcare facilities, temporary building hire, and refurbished modular units. The framework has been designed to simplify procurement while accelerating project timelines, reducing disruption on site, strengthening quality control, and embedding sustainability and social value into publicly funded construction.
Speaking at the Learning Places Scotland exhibition, commercial director Mike McVey explained that the company’s Northern Ireland headquarters places it within easy reach of Glasgow and the wider Scottish market. With established trading partners already active in the region, the transition feels natural. Securing a place on the SPA framework, he noted, is a transformative step that allows the company to bring 39 years of experience in education, healthcare, and commercial buildings to Scottish clients through a collaborative, partnership-led approach.
The firm has already delivered several notable projects in Scotland, including a £2.5 million development at BAE Systems’ Govan base. There, P McVey installed 56 modular units within the Janet Harvey Shipbuilding Hall, demonstrating the speed and precision that define offsite construction. In Northern Ireland, the company led the delivery of the Belfast Transport Hub—a 1,600-square-metre modular building composed of 46 steel frames and designed to accommodate up to 200 people. Manufactured offsite, the structure was installed in just three working days.
Beyond these flagship developments, the company’s portfolio includes hospital outpatient clinics, school extensions, and sports education facilities. Together, these projects underscore a strategic focus on public infrastructure where modular construction can deliver measurable benefits. According to McVey, the shift toward modular solutions is driven by persistent industry pressures, including labour shortages, rising construction costs, and increasing demand for faster delivery.
Modular construction, he explained, offers greater certainty through fixed-cost programmes and highly controlled factory environments. This approach significantly reduces exposure to risks associated with weather delays or workforce availability—common challenges in traditional construction. For public sector clients, the result is more consistent quality, improved sustainability outcomes, and a tangible increase in social value.
Despite modular construction’s growing momentum, McVey remains cautious about its application in the residential sector. Pointing to recent financial difficulties faced by several modular housing providers, he noted that the delivery model has yet to prove itself at scale. As a result, P McVey has chosen to focus exclusively on commercial, healthcare, and education projects—sectors that align closely with the company’s expertise and long-term vision.
At Learning Places Scotland, this focus was reflected in strong interest in the firm’s rental solutions, particularly its ability to supply modular classrooms at very short notice. The response highlighted a broader shift in public sector thinking, where flexibility, speed, and reliability are becoming just as important as cost control. In this evolving landscape, modular construction continues to establish itself as a practical, efficient, and future-ready approach.