Management at a Fraserburgh hotel are at the end of their tether after finding themselves almost £1,000 out of pocket to a roofer who left them with a leaky roof.
The Saltoun Inn paid Hatton roofing company DH Builders £960 in September 2024 to fix crumbling slates and leadwork – but boss Darren Higgins has since left them in the lurch.
The roofer has “failed to turn up” since accepting the payment over eight months ago – despite many promises made to carry out the work.
When contacted by The Press and Journal, Mr Higgins said the firm intends to repair the Saltoun Inn roof within the next two weeks.
But with the job not completed over the winter, the hotel has already incurred additional costs.
Since September, it has fallen foul of the elements, with rainfall creeping into the upper floors of the building.
That has resulted in a further £3,000 bill due to water damage.
Over the past eight months, the Saltoun Inn team say they have tried without success to contact Darren Higgins about this issue.
But, he has failed to respond or to come back to the hotel to complete the task he initially agreed to – or to give back the money paid to him for the job.
The hotel has now been forced to send out a roofer SOS for an alternative contractor to complete the task.
Saltoun Inn ‘left counting the cost’
Saltoun Inn management, speaking to The Press and Journal, say they have been left in a “challenging” situation because of the missing money.
Owner Rob Reeley said it could mean cutting back on temporary summer staff.
He said: “I don’t like to stir up this kind of trouble. You know we all have day jobs and things to do.
“But we are not walking away from this.
“We have been holding out hope for a while now – although without much confidence.
“We really wanted to pay him the money to get this done.
“That would have been easier for everyone, but we have given up on this now.”
Rob has been left counting the cost.
He added: “It’s not helping, especially with the current climate in hospitality.
“With these costs, it might make us consider whether to hire that extra part-time staff member.
“It’s a challenging time.”
What did Darren Higgins have to say about the Saltoun Inn?
The Press and Journal spoke to Darren Higgins to ask him about the dispute.
Darren told us that a foot injury had prevented him from completing the task, and that he missed calls from the Saltoun Inn “due to a sickness bug”.
He also made further promises to get the work done.
After being made aware of the publication of this article, he offered to “drive up to pay the money back today”.
He said: “The job is going to be getting done.
“I’ve had a problem with my foot, and my workload has been crazy.
“We will probably be there in the next two and half weeks.
“I get the frustration with the waiting period, and I can only apologise about that.
“And I get that it’s been a few months, but we are going to go there.”
“I’ll be in touch within the next two weeks.”
Prior complaints about roofing firm
We also reached out to Aberdeenshire Council’s Trading Standards department who confirmed they have been notified of a “previous complaint” regarding DH Builders.
They could not, however, “comment on specifics”.
DH Builders are not visible on Companies House and do not have any public social media pages.
Aberdeenshire Council’s newly launched ‘Trusted Trader’ scheme compiles a list of contractors vetted by trading standards, with the support of Police Scotland.
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