GrantRail lifts turnover to £120m

GrantRail lifted its turnover to £120m last year despite being dropped from Network Rail’s list of main track renewal contractors.

Pre-tax profit in the 12 months to 31 December was also ahead at £3.1m.

GrantRail’s previous financial figures, covering 2006, showed a pre-tax profit of £2.1m from turnover of £110m.

The business is a 50:50 joint venture between Corus, now part of the Indian conglomerate Tata, and Dutch construction group Volker Wessels Stevin.

Its main activities are:

• Projects
• Track laying
• Signalling
• Plant hire
• Overhead power
• Welding

The list of clients includes Network Rail, London Underground, local authorities and freight companies in the UK and Eire.

Approval was won during the year for Harmelen level crossings, an innovation from within the group. The design was developed in Holland to cope with heavy road and rail use.

Thanks to an innovative wear-resistant surface, the Harmelen has been designed for an average life span of more than 25 years which in practice means that maintenance should be virtually non-existent.

The first UK installations of Harmelen-type crossings are set to take place this year.

GrantRail’s directors were not happy when Network Rail measured the performance of its track renewals contractors across a number of areas with the aim of reducing the overall number from six to four, the result being that GrantRail was one of the two that missed out.

Some 250 employees were subsequently TUPEd across to the new contractor.

However GrantRail’s directors said: “The decision does not affect the group’s long-term strategy to provide a complete range of competencies as an integrated railway contractor and Network Rail remains the group’s principal UK customer.

GrantRail has a joint venture with Trackwork to replace track on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines for Tube Lines.

It also won a contract in partnership with Skanska for an extension to the Docklands Light Railway.

Holding on to staff is an issue and it finds itself fighting off approaches from competitors “for all levels of scarce resources on a regular basis”.

The cash inflow from operating activities dwindled from £12m in the previous year, to £1.1m and overall there was a cash outflow of £3.7m.

The highest-paid director took home £227,000.

There was an exceptional item of £1.8m. It was an onerous lease provision made in respect of the future lease payments for two cranes for which there is an uncertain amount of future work.