The Pacific story
Founded in 2005 by Brian Gallacher, Pacific Building began life with a vision to provide a consistent level of quality service to customers in core sectors such as travel, hospitality and fast track projects.
Brian had worked extensively in these sectors with previous companies including Syncro, and he and his team were able to launch Pacific with key clients they had successfully delivered projects for in the past – most notably McDonald’s and Glasgow Airport.
The culture was firmly focussed on client delivery with a mission statement: “We exist to build great things.”
Initially based in Paisley, the embryonic Pacific hit the ground running – working on projects for McDonald’s across Scotland as well as ongoing airport commissions.
Initially, Pacific included many staff who had worked with Brian and they were soon supplemented by an enthusiastic young team supporting projects at head office and on-site.
It is a strength of Pacific that many of this team are still with the business nearly 20 years later.
As Pacific’s reputation grew among clients and construction consultants, new opportunities emerged, particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors.
The skills developed in the airport and McDonald’s projects – fast-track, managing operational environments, in-house joinery and a proactive approach – were successfully applied to work programmes for clients including Mitchells & Butlers and Scotmid.
The company grew steadily in this first decade from a turnover of £3million in 2006 to close to £20m 10 years later.
As their 10th anniversary approached, Pacific were firmly established as one of Scotland’s leading refurbishment and fit-out contractors.
Through repeat clients, they had started to deliver projects in England and Wales and perhaps their most significant foray was the delivery of a clutch of projects at the iconic Wembley Stadium.
Four projects were delivered within tight close-season timescales while accommodating summer concerts. The Three Lions, Lioness, Tours and Centre Circle projects encompassed large-scale bar and hospitality areas alongside museum and exhibition space and these quality projects were completed successfully within the tight time constraints.
In the hospitality and travel sectors in particular, manufactured bespoke joinery was often a critical part of the project delivery.
Although Pacific retained in-house installers, they wanted to provide an additional level of service to clients that could only be provided through the establishment of their own workshop.
Initially established within the company’s existing premises at Hillington, the workshop quickly repaid the investment by providing high-quality items coupled with control over manufacture, delivery and installation.
In any business, it is essential to consider its future in terms of succession planning and ownership. In line with the people-focused ethos of Pacific, it was decided that the best route was for Pacific to become an employee-owned business.
The shareholding of the equity directors was transferred to an employee owned trust in 2019. This was closely followed by the appointment of Gerard McMahon as Managing Director in 2020.
The business is now looking forward, developing its presence in new sectors – including hotels and retail – and consolidating its position in the broader hospitality and travel sector.
As we near our 20th anniversary, the future is looking positive for Pacific.
