THIRTY new care jobs are to be created once the re-development of Muirfield Nursing Home in Gullane is completed.

The upgrade and expansion of the facility will be carried out by Muir Construction, a Fife-based company, and will be done in two phases.

Work on the first stage of the £5.75 million contract will begin immediately, and is expected to take about a year to complete.

That will focus on building the new main building and, once that is completed, residents will move in.

The second phase of the project, which is expected to take about eight months, will then begin, with further construction around the façade of the home’s existing building, on Main Street

Work on the project, which is supported with financing from HSBC, began last year with the demolition of the neighbouring Bissets Hotel, to enable the extension of the existing Muirfield site.

Design and engineering work, as well as site surveys, have also been carried out since that time.

Edinburgh-based Randolph Hill, which runs the nursing home, will invest about £8m on the overall project, which will expand the facility, creating 60 high specification rooms with en suite facilities, aiming to provide a better experience for residents.

That is an increase of more than 20 beds from the current facility, while not all of the existing rooms have en suite bathrooms.

Randolph Hill, which owns and operates six nursing homes across central and east Scotland, initially acquired Muirfield in 2008 with the aim of re-developing it to bring it up to the standard of their other sites.

Peter McCormick, managing director of Randolph Hill Nursing Homes Group, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Muir Construction, which has been appointed after a competitive tender process amongst other reputable east-of-Scotland-based contractors.

“Muir has a great track record in building care homes and other challenging projects of this scale.

“The redevelopment plans for Muirfield will transform the home and really benefit its residents with premium quality facilities and rooms which are much larger compared to typical nursing home standards.

“The project is also good news for the local economy, securing long-term employment for our 50 existing staff members and creating an additional 30 new jobs.”

It is hoped the new nursing home will be completed by the end of next year.