Eric Wright Group bullish as profits rise 6%
LANCASHIRE construction, civil engineering, property development and facilities management firm, the Eric Wright Group, has announced strong results for 2012, with pre-tax profits rising 5.7% to £6.5m and turnover up 13% to £178m.
The 500-strong privately-owned company, based at Sceptre Way, Bamber Bridge near Preston, said its good performance was due to the breadth of its activities.
Looking forward, although the construction sector is only just starting to see recovery, Eric Wright says it has a healthy 2013/14 order book, standing it in good stead to capitalise on further opportunities as the economy begins to improve.
The star performer, in terms of growth, was Eric Wright Facilities Management, which in 2012 increased its portfolio of managed properties across the region to more than 100 premises and its workforce to 115. The unit was founded in 2002 and has annual sales of around £10m.
Group managing director Jeremy Hartley, said he was pleased with the 2012 performance, given the challenging market conditions.
“A lot of work has also been going on behind the scenes to ensure the business is adapting to changing markets. The commercial focus is excellent and the board is extremely pleased with progress across all divisions.
“During 2012 construction successfully completed a number of landmark contracts, such as Manchester United’s Carrington training facility, Bolton One health, education and leisure centre and Highfield Humanities College in Blackpool. In addition initiatives such as Lancashire Regeneration Property Partnership represent tremendous opportunities for us to forge long-term business relationships with local partners and deliver real change in our locality.
“In other areas, our civil engineering division has made very good headway in the rail sector and has secured a place on a 10-year capital maintenance framework with United Utilities. Both successes place it extremely well to capitalise on the government’s substantial infrastructure investment programme as it begins to gather momentum.”
Mr Hartley, who has led the business since 2010, added: “In overview, having maintained our position in the market and strengthened the business through both partnership working and adjusting to the evolving needs of our core clients, we can move forward into 2013/2014 with a very strong order book and some tremendous opportunities.”
