David Murray slams Scotland’s ‘frustrating’ planning process after exceptional £18m profit

A year ago, the Edinburgh-based group completed the sale of the 110-acre Redheughs site - part of the 600-acre “Garden District” on the west side of Edinburgh - to social enterprise Places for People (PfP). The sale was a major milestone in Murray’s long-term land and property strategy, coming a decade after the firm first applied for outline planning permission for the site.

Work is now underway by PfP to build 1,300 properties, including more than 330 “affordable” homes, plus a primary school, local amenities and extensive greenspace.

The completion of the Redheughs site sale helped Murray achieve a profit before tax of £18.1m in the financial year ending 30 June 2025, according to its latest accounts, compared with a loss of £1.7m a year earlier, on revenues of £91m, up 33 per cent on 2024.

The property proceeds helped offset a £12.5m reduction in metal stockholding sales during the period under review, amid falling demand and volatile market pricing exacerbated by the introduction of tariffs and quotas in global steel markets.

Five years ago, Sir David Murray completed a deal to cede ownership of the private investment business bearing his name to his sons, David and Keith.

David D Murray, managing director of Murray Capital Holdings, said: “Our business approach is long-term and patient by nature and our 2025 results are, by definition, exceptional because it has taken several years - and sustained financial and management commitment - to generate that income from land sales.

“The decrease in metal stockholding activity reflects challenging trading conditions in terms of reduced levels of demand as well as weakening prices. The wine businesses again performed well, recording a rise in turnover in a relatively flat market.

“Overall, the group is in a very strong position with a significant land bank and a diversified portfolio of interests and investments.”

Murray Capital’s landholdings extend to more than 800 acres and although it is focused predominantly on residential development, the group is also said to be in active discussions with providers of utility infrastructure, battery energy storage systems and data centres.

Murray added: “The timescales and costs associated with bringing land into economic use - particularly for residential development - remains a source of frustration. Scotland needs to take a much more collaborative approach to ensure we can overcome the major challenges currently frustrating the planning process and unlock land for much needed housing stock.

“With nearly half of Scotland's local authorities currently in a housing crisis - and the Scottish government having declared a national housing emergency 18 months ago - we remain keen to work with all parties to find solutions to these issues and unlock residential development to fulfil community needs.”

More than £29m of land receipts are still due to be collected by the group in regular instalments through to January 2028, providing medium-term cash flow that will support future land promotion and developments, as well as other business investments.