TRAD UK’s Glasgow depot has started 2026 on a high after strengthening the team and securing a strong pipeline of work for the coming months.
Experienced scaffold industry stalwart David Sloan has joined the business as depot head, while Tony McAtee has been added to the sales team, working alongside sales manager Stuart Collins. They join a 20+-strong team in Glasgow that includes operations manager Natalee Wilkie and Alan Slater, head of technical and product support for the overall TRAD UK business.
TRAD UK specialises in the hire and sale of scaffolding and construction safety solutions, with a vast product offering that includes the renowned PLETTAC METRIX ring system scaffold, TRADLOK scaffold system, TRAD SAFETY DECK decking innovation, and ALL-IN-ONE EDGEGUARD roof edge protection system.
David Sloan has worked in the scaffolding sector for 40 years, the last 20 of which were spent running his own business. He decided to retire last year but quickly realised early retirement wasn’t for him and grasped the opportunity when the TRAD UK depot manager position became available.
“I was thinking about retiring but I lasted just three months,” he told Project Scotland. “I’d dealt with TRAD for many years and was attracted by the whole atmosphere and the people. It was a no-brainer for me. The support you get here is second to none. I’m coming from the contract side and predominantly used to hire. I know both sides of it. You want people to be knowledgeable and helpful, so it was a natural progression for me to come in and help others.
“This a people place. In my experience, people deal with people, they don’t deal with entities. You can’t buy that relationship.”
Alan Slater revealed that TRAD UK prides itself on doing things differently, whether that be the development of innovative products or going the extra mile with regards to customer service. In a highly competitive industry where many firms offer similar-type products, the personal touch can be a key differentiator. He highlighted the people-centric culture that permeates throughout the business and the longevity of many senior members of staff.
“Natalee, our Glasgow operations manager, has been here 25 years; I’ve been here 20 years; our managing director’s been here about 28 years; and our HR director has been here 26 years,” Alan said. “We’ve always tried to promote from within. We’ve got some really good people here and we try to look after them and recognise talent.”
In the Glasgow depot, the culture has been heavily influenced by the late John Paterson, a beloved previous TRAD UK MD who passed away in 2021. The depot was renamed in 2024 as Paterson House in honour of him, and his legacy of putting people first lives on.
Operations manager Natalee Wilkie joined the firm in May 2000, just three months after the Glasgow base opened. She said, “It was John who gave me my start. I’ve still got a photograph of him on my desk. He was a big part of it and a proper people person. He was all about looking out for everybody and we’ve tried to maintain that. He always had time for everyone. He would always ask about our families, even if he was run off his feet.”
Alan Slater, whose laptop wallpaper is a photo of himself with John, added that John himself learned from other senior figures in the business about the importance of treating people well. “You look after your people and your people will look after you,” Alan said. “That culture filters down through the company. It’s a team. Everybody works together. We don’t work against each other. It’s all about getting the best possible outcome for everybody, and therefore the business.”
That ethos also extends externally, with customers treated as partners rather than clients. Alan explained how that approach regularly pays off in the form of repeat business.
“We don’t just complete a sale and walk away,” he emphasised. “There’s ongoing support. It’s not just all about the bottom line with us. Obviously, the financial side is important, and we want to be as successful as any business, but you’ve got to help. We try to make it more of a partnership with our customers. We try to work with them. We provide solutions.”
That methodology resonates with David, who describes himself as ‘poacher turned gamekeeper’, having spent decades operating on the hiring side.
“From a contractor’s point of view, I want to be able to phone here and say, ‘This is what I’m looking for, what can you do about it?’ There will always be a solution. That’s what I liked about TRAD when I dealt with the business in my old role. You’ll get back what you give out. If you’re honest and up front with people, you’ll get that back.”
As with other segments of the construction sector, the scaffolding and access industry is grappling with skills gaps and a shortage of young people coming through. TRAD UK is committed to continuous workforce development and providing career pathways for its employees.
Natalee is one example of that, having started as an administrator before being promoted to senior administrator and then operations manager. That type of career progression can be seen throughout the company.
“Our managing director Colin Dobson started out as a salesman for the business,” Alan said. “John Paterson, our previous MD, was a yard lad. I was a scaffolder who moved into the sales team and I’m now part of the senior management team. We have salespeople who started out as decking installers.”
2026 looks set to be a busy year for the firm. Expanding the client base and product range are top of the agenda.
Alan revealed that a couple of important product launches are planned for the next six months.
“My colleague Derrick Quinn and myself are continually working on product development,” he stated. “TRAD UK as a business has always had a history of innovation. We’ve always introduced new things and brought solutions to the market.
“Derrick has developed some brilliant products over the years. TRAD DECK is considered to be the ‘Hoover’ of the decking industry. There are lots of similar systems out there but ours is the original and the best, and we continually strive to develop. Our ALL-IN-ONE EDGEGUARD product was fully developed in-house. I haven’t seen a product out there that does everything that it does, while conforming to all the British and European standards.”
TRAD SAFETY DECK is a fall prevention system utilised in traditional build, timber frame, and construction projects. Its lightweight structure means first floor doesn’t require back-propping, while the non-slip surface provides firm footing in all weathers.
ALL-IN-ONE EDGEGUARD offers a single solution for collective fall protection on flat roofs without penetrating the roof surface. Slim cantilever bases sit on anti-slip rubber mats, meaning the roof membrane isn’t drilled or damaged, while it can also be mechanically fixed, used in permanent or temporary situations and even has the ability to fold, making it the truly ‘all-in-one’ solution.
When developing new products, increasing focus is being placed on sustainability. The global Altrad Group, of which TRAD UK is part of, is committed to reducing carbon emissions. With that in mind, factors such as recyclability and longevity have taken on extra importance.
TRAD UK operates six depots across the country. The Glasgow site offers coverage throughout the whole of Scotland, from the Borders to the Highlands and Islands and everywhere in between.
Alan revealed that Scotland is an area of strategic importance for the overall TRAD UK business.
“Scotland is very, very important,” he explained. “We’ve serviced some massive projects in Scotland over the years. We were involved in the water treatment works built south of Edinburgh (Glencorse) with Black & Veatch. We also provided products to the extension to Cameronbridge Distillery a number of years ago, and the gas processing plant in Shetland that services the Laggan Tormore fields, constructed by Petrofac. That particular site was phenomenal – it was all traditional scaffolding, and we were running two or three artics a week out of here for months on end, showcasing our ability to service from the smallest to the largest projects.”
At present, the Glasgow depot is involved in a number of significant projects, with more anticipated to start as the year goes on. Despite the challenges currently facing the construction sector, the interview concluded with David striking a positive tone about the future.
“We’re very encouraged by what we’ve got coming through,” he explained. “We’ve got some new clients that are big players and we’re really quite buoyant about what is coming forward.”
