Skanska UK - company profile

Skanska is a large Swedish construction group which has operations throughout the world. This page provides an overview of the Skanska's UK construction activities.

Skanska UK has grown its construction turnover steadily in recent years to close on £1bn. The group’s forward orderbook has a total value of £1.8bn.

Skanska UK has sought to make its niche in the UK construction market by undertaking large complex projects that call for a strong design input element and where, as a result of all this, profit margins are above average.

• View parent group’s website

The parent group Skanska is a publicly quoted company on the Swedish Stock Exchange.

• View share price

Swedish Stock Exchange prices in kronor.

(the exchange rate is:   1Kr = £0.08 £1 = 13.2Kr)

Skanska UK made an operating income of £30m in 2006 from a turnover of £910m. There is no published figure for Skanska UK’s pre-tax profit, needed to allow a like-for-like performance comparison with the other major UK competitors such as Carillion and Balfour Beatty.

• View Skanska UK’s website

Skanska UK’s operating philosophy:

“We realise that construction isn't what it used to be. That's why we like to do things slightly differently.  We integrate our wide range of core skills to develop and deliver innovative solutions, ensuring that total lifecycle benefits are considered, right from design concepts through to maintenance and operation post-construction.
We also like to integrate our trade contractors and supply chain into our project teams

Skanska UK’s history:

Many people in construction will remember the business by its former name of Trafalgar House, a group which started back in 1778 as a player in the London construction market and which grew by acquiring companies such as Trollope and Colls.

There was a big change in 1996 when Trafalgar House was sold to Kvaerner, a Swedish conglomerate with massive global aspirations, not just in its core market of shipbuilding.

But in 2000 Kvaerner found the cost of rapid expansion was too high and it backed out of construction, selling these operations to Skanska.

The brand name Skanska UK has been in place ever since then.

Skanska UK’s first chief executive Keith Clarke moved across to head up WS Atkins and was replaced by David Fison, his former deputy. Fison has put a major focus on strengthening Skanska’s client relationships.

Employees: 5,500

Notable contracts:

£1bn Barts Hospital PFI
The largest PFI healthcare scheme in the UK, the project in central London incorporates the redevelopment of St Bartholomew's Hospital and The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

Skanska has a 42-year contract which includes a construction programme worth around £1 billion, the company's largest-ever.

Heron Tower at 110 Bishopsgate, London
Rising 46 storeys to 202m, when complete it will be one of the tallest structures in the City of London. The deal with the client of this high-rise commercial development is to provide a total construction and services solution including mechanical, electrical, plumbing and IT services as well as piling, steel decking, suspended ceilings and engineering resources.

The project is scheduled for completion during the first quarter of 2011.

M1 motorway widen £115m project.
This scheme will increase the motorway to four lanes in each direction from the M25 through to Luton and Skanska will carry out the work in joint venture with Balfour Beatty. Between Junction 6A and 10 there will be a four-lane motorway. 

The task includes construction of new interchanges at Junctions 8 and 9 as well as collector and distributor roads to improve traffic flow at Junction 8.

The scheme involves the widening 11 underbridges and the replacement of seven overbridges.
Expected completion: end of 2008.

Recent news stories:

• Skanska wins £242m Heron Tower job
  Skanska has won a bid to build the controversial Heron Tower in London, in a contract worth £242m.
• Contract Journal Construction Top 100
  Skanska ranked 18th on turnover
• Skanska in rude health with 44% turnover hike
  Hospital PFI work contributes to £610m turnover, as firm reports strong orderbook.
• Skanska says, not enough contractor capacity to tackle workload of major projects
  There are more large complex contracts on offer than contractors can cope with, said David Fison, chief executive of Skanska.
• Search for other Skanska news
• Annual accounts for Skanska group: 148 pages (4.68MB)