Bardsley reports £72m order book as turnover rises 33%

Tameside-headquartered contractor Bardsley has reported an increase in turnover and pre-tax profit in its latest full-year results after a spate of contract wins, including high-profile deals in central Manchester and Lancashire.

The company reported a turnover of £68.3m and a pre-tax profit of £1.2m for the year to 31 December 2017, up from £51.4m and £0.8m a year earlier, while the contractor’s cash at bank at year end grew to £8.8m, up from £6.4m.

Major contracts secured last year include the 11,000 sq ft Riverside House for English Cities Fund, a £5m project which forms part of the wider New Bailey development in Salford.

It has also won a number of high-profile residential schemes include a £27.6m deal with Mulbury to build a 135-home private-rented development on the corner of Great Ancoats Street and Port Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

Paul Strutt, the company’s managing director, said Bardsley was now “regularly competing for projects in the midrise market and for contracts of £20m or more”.

“Private developers react quicker than public sector but strategically as a business we will remain minded to keep the balance of public and private sector in the right proportion,” he said.

Continuing its push into city centre residential, Bardsley is also one of three contractors shortlisted to build plot five of Angel Meadows, alongside Russells and GMI. This project includes a combined 12-and-nine-storey building containing townhouses and three-bed apartments.

In the hospitality sector, Bardsley is also on site to deliver a £15.5m AC by Marriott hotel, again in the Northern Quarter, which includes 172 bedrooms.

Chairman Roly Bardsley said the contractor had benefited from reducing its exposure on affordable housing contracts, and criticised the market for remaining “slow to react to the constant pleading towards the public sector enablers to build more homes”.

“The delay in public sector work in 2016 continued into 2017 with the only real change being the healthier enquiry levels for elderly care,” he added.

Projects in the sector the company has secured in recent months include a £9.8m deal with Regenda to build a 72-bed scheme in Fleetwood.

Overall, the company reported a secured order book of £60m as of 31 December, with a further £12m expected to be confirmed by June this year. This compares to a secured order book of £55m in its previous full-year results.

The company also increased staff numbers in the year to 184, up from 177, while its wage bill rose to £8.2m, up from £7.2m.