Design and build reaps rewards at Carey

Carey Group, a main contractor involved in building and civil engineering, has reported a surge in profit margin to 7.7%.

Latest group financial figures covering the 12 months to 31 March show a pre-tax profit of £7m, well ahead of the previous year’s figure of £4.8m. Turnover ran to £91m, down from £103m in the previous year.

The family-owned group was formed in 1980 by three Carey brothers: John (chairman), Pat and Tom. It offers a nationwide service with offices in Wembley, Milton Keynes and Ireland.

Projects run up to £20m in value and more than 25% of turnover is in the form of design and build, particularly in the retail, residential and distribution sectors.

Much of Carey’s workload is undertaken by the in-house pool of direct labour. The group has 600 employees. Finding good quality staff is described as "hard" with the problem being worse in London than elsewhere.

Subcontractors and suppliers are paid in an average of 45 days.

The pension fund valuations based on FRS17, the new actuarial standard, show that the defined benefit scheme’s profit and loss reserves ran to £27m. The deficit in the scheme climbed to £2.9m. A year earlier the deficit was £1.8m and two years ago it was £1.2m. Contributions from the group ran to £510,000 in 2003 and £430,000 in 2002