Contractor vows to push on and drive revenues to £900m

Michael Graham

Contracting group Graham has reported stagnant annual revenues, but has set its sights on growing turnover to around £900m in the next five years.

The UK-wide group has established a strong North West base in recent years, operating out of offices in Salford and Liverpool.

It is currently working on a range of high-profile developments across the region including The Strand, an £86m build-to-rent development on Liverpool’s iconic waterfront.

Reporting figures for the year ending March 31, the group said revenues stabilised at £735m after a number of consecutive years of growth.

Pre-tax profits of £8.2m (1.1% of revenues), represented a 37% fall compared with the previous year’s figure of £13.1m.

However, group executive chairman Michael Graham, said the latest accounts coincide with the launch of Graham’s new business strategy entitled “Forward Momentum”.

He said this five-year vision is aligned to the company’s guiding principle of “delivering lasting impact”, and reflects its ambition to improve productivity and embrace modern methods of construction.

“Under Forward Momentum the group will look to continue its sustainable, organic growth with an optimum business size of £850m-900m.”

Forecast revenues for 2020 stand at £875m, he added.

“2020 should also see Graham return to the top quartile of industry profitability with margins in excess of 3%,” said Mr Graham.

The latest results show that the privately-owned company, which specialises in the delivery of building, civil engineering, interior fit-out, facilities management and investment projects, remains profitable across all of its divisions.

Mr Graham said: “Graham continues to be in a strong financial position.

“First and foremost, these latest accounts indicate stability, particularly as we recorded profits across all of our divisions. This will provide us with a solid platform to continue to grow sustainably.

“We have also produced a healthy balance sheet, with strong cash balances of £63m and no trading debt.

“Our intent is to continue to invest in the balance sheet to ensure that we can be selective about the projects we work on and the partners we work with.”

He said: “Our focused approach to work winning has accounted for our current order book of £1.2bn together with a strong presence in multiple frameworks, which will help maintain the group’s healthy balance between public and private work.”

The Forward Momentum initiative, he added, demonstrates the group’s commitment to operating as a business which has a positive impact on the planet, place and people.

“We want to be known as a business defined by the quality of our projects rather than the size of our revenue.

“So far, we have been very successful in this regard as quality has differentiated us, and we believe it will continue to do so.

“To maintain this standard, we will continue to significantly invest in training, systems and processes to ensure we get it right first time on site whilst ensuring Graham is a safe, accident free place of work.

“Importantly, we also want to be a great place to work and strengthen our reputation as an attractive employer in the industry.

“This commitment is reflected in our investment of over £1m in employee learning and development in 2018, while we continue to substantially invest in developing industry-leading initiatives around employee wellbeing and mental health.”

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