City briefs: Galliford Try; Getech; and more

UK construction group Galliford Try’s Building division has secured a place on the £1.5bn YORbuild Major Works Contractors Framework Agreement in the north of England.

YORhub has selected Galliford Try on Lots one and two of the framework, which runs for four years and principally comprises general building works.

The framework serves all public sector bodies and third sector organisations in the Yorkshire and Humber region, Sheffield Local Enterprise Partnership region, Lincolnshire, North East England, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and areas of Leicestershire. It includes an option to extend for a further period of two years.

Galliford Try is one of eight contractors to be appointed to Lot one, comprising building works between £10m-£30m, and one of six contractors on Lot two for works above £30m.

Bill Hocking, chief executive of Galliford Try, said: “We are delighted to build on our excellent position in the north of England through our appointment to the YORbuild Major Works Contractors Framework Agreement.

“We are committed to delivering high-quality buildings for our clients and the community and recognise the vital importance such projects make to the wider economy during these unprecedented times.

“We look forward to working with our partners, adopting the latest Standard Operating Procedures issued by the Construction Leadership Council.”

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Leeds-based minerals, oil and gas exploration group Getech has taken steps to deliver a 26% cut in monthly Group costs, to contend with the COVID-19 emergency.

The business says it has a strong balance sheet, with cash totalled £3.6m at 31 December 2019.

But it warns it does not know how long the current disruption and oil price weakness will last.

It says it has cut costs through overhead cost management, a loan capital repayment holiday, use of the UK Government Job Retention Scheme and salary reductions that range from 20% for Getech’s Board to 8% for most other staff.

A spokesman for the firm added: “Whilst revenue uncertainty exists, Getech retains additional cost flexibility, and the benefits of the actions already taken combine with our strong balance sheet and orderbook to provide significant financial capacity. This will underpin Getech throughout 2020 and 2021.

“We expect 2020 to be a very challenging year. To date however we have not had any negative revisions to our orderbook and Q1 2020 revenue, forward sales and profitability were all ahead of Q1 2019.

Jonathan Copus, Getech CEO, said: “We are not complacent about the significant challenges ahead and we are taking actions to help us manage the risks and uncertainties that we face.

“We are however also confident our financial strength and the transferable nature of our skills and technologies give us the toolkit to successfully navigate what are unprecedented commercial conditions.

“Our sales pipeline remains diverse and continues to benefit from 2019 campaigns in new regions, with new potential customers.

We also see an opportunity to accelerate our diversification and growth plans – through both organic steps and acquisition.”

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Hull-based global health, hygiene and home produce company, RB, says it is making “exceptional” efforts to increase capacity to meet strong consumer demand due to COVID-19.

The business has recorded strong demand in the first quarter for Dettol, Lysol, Mucinex, Nurofen and VMS, noting that it has managed to sustain supply despite challenging conditions in many markets.

In its quarter one 2020 trading update, released today, RB added its e-Commerce channel net revenues were up over 50%,

It said this reflected strong growth in both hygiene and health, particularly in March as consumers moved online during the lockdown.

Laxman Narasimhan, chief executive officer, said: “Despite the significant pressures presented by COVID-19, our global teams have worked around the clock to ensure continuity of supply, while prioritising the safety of our employees, partners and the communities where we live and work.

“The exceptional demand has resulted in some customers and consumers facing shortages for some of our products.

“RB has responded with its typical can-do attitude, ramping up production and working with customers and suppliers to overcome significant barriers, while incurring additional cost.

“I am incredibly grateful to all our employees, and also to our partners and customers for their patience as we work to increase supply to meet the unprecedented demand.”