Bard boost for Billington

SCHOOLS and Shakespeare are helping South Yorkshire-based structural steel and engineering group Billington Holdings achieve record orders worth £55m.

The company, which changed its name from Amco Corporation following the sale of part of its business to management backed by Yorkshire fund Endless earlier this year, said today that overall trading remains in line with expectations.

The group is now concentrating on structural steelwork through its Billington Structures business in Wombwell, Barnsley which is supplying projects ranging from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford upon Avon to a range of education projects including the new East Riding College.

Billington Holdings also owns Easi-edge, which provides safety equipment to the construction industry, and Dosco Overseas Engineering, which supplies mining machinery for a worldwide customer base.

The group said its record order book had been boosted by strong demand worldwide and in the UK mineral industries for machines and steelwork. 

It said: “Despite the present challenging conditions which have had significant effects upon all businesses operating within the UK construction industry, certain sectors, such as education, continue to offer growth.”

Executive chairrman Peter Hems, said: “‘We are very pleased with the progress that structural steel and the other remaining businesses are making. Disposing of the non-core businesses earlier in the year was an important step and allows the group to focus on its core skills and markets.

“Our strong order book and product development strategy gives us considerable confidence in the outlook for the full year.”