Rok rolls up to a £1bn-a-year turnover

Rok has turned up the volume once again, with turnover jumping to £950m, well ahead of the £690m figure in the previous year.

Rok’s figures covering the 12 months to 3 December 2007, also show a record pre-tax profit of £28m (comparable figure in the previous year: £20m).

The melody was that much sweeter as Garvis Snook, chief executive, who has opted to play Rok as a four-stringed instrument, was able to announce that each of the four were working in harmony.

Rok’s core activities are:

• new build
• planned repairs & refurbishment
• response maintenance
• development

Snook said: “Rok’s aim is to become The Nation’s Local Builder. There are 50,000 small building operators in the UK and this fragmented £42bn market provides an excellent opportunity for Rok to grow, either by market share gain or through acquisition.”

Rok generated cash from operations running to £34m (comparable figure in the previous year: £39m) which represents a profit to cash conversion of 109% before charging pension scheme contributions.

Capital expenditure of £8m was spend on office modernisation and upgrades to IT capability, particularly in the response maintenance business.

Profit contributions from the four operations were:

• £15m – planned repairs & refurbishment
• £10m – new build
• £8m – development
• £6m – response maintenance

The acquisitions during the year were:

• May – Sol Construction, operating from Nottingham and Warwick. Price: £21m (£17m of which was paid in cash)
• September – S Harrison Construction, operating in Yorkshire. Price: £5m (£4m of which was paid in cash)
• October – Avonside Services, a provider of plumbing, heating and electrical services. Price: £16m (£12m of which was paid in cash)
• also three other smaller businesses during the year based in Aberdeen, Ayr and Rotherham.

All are trading in line with expectations are in the process of being integrated into the group.