Wrekin poised for £100m turnover

Wrekin Construction is on target to hit a turnover of £100m by the end of this year, a figure managing director John Evans describes as "a significant milestone".

The past two years have seen vigorous growth as Evans steered the group from a turnover of £65m in 2000 to £79m last year. "We don't want to expand too fast," he said. "Construction is too risky to go for exponential growth - Stenoak shows what can happen when a company loses control."

Wrekin's interim figures (six months to 30 June) show turnover higher at £51m (£38m). The pre-tax profit of £760,000 brings a sigh of relief after a loss of £870,000 in the same period last year.

"Last time we had two significant contracts where we bid low and they went pear-shaped," said Evans. "They were both identified during the construction phase and remedial action was taken. In one case, we put more people in to manage the project better and get out quickly."

Wrekin also restructured its headquarters' set-up in order to reduce costs. Even with the group's average order jumping ahead from £1m to £3m, it has no staffing shortage. "In fact we have a few spare," said Evans. "But I've enough irons in the fire to be confident of being busy in the near future. I feel fortunate not to have to go out recruiting."

Wrekin has four business streams: design and build; civil engineering; utilities; and rail.

"Rail is the most exciting at the moment," said Evans. "We have won our Assurance Case, which means we can undertake contracts directly for Railtrack and rail operating companies, rather than work as a subcontractor for others.

"It opens a massive door as there is a wave of infrastructure projects coming through in the rail sector. We'll be going for schemes of up to £10m as we're qualified to that level. A lot of rail work is being awarded through framework contracts and we've just won our first such deal."

The acquisition of Filcom, a fibre optic and cabling contractor, has boosted the size of Wrekin's utilities division. An £8m turnover in the first half included a two-month contribution from Filcom. Annual turnover is expected to hit £25m.

"Our utilities division is busy," said Evans. "We're bidding new build and maintenance contracts for several suppliers. The Filcom acquisition means we can do overhead power work as well."