Construction consultancy and design group McBains Cooper has declared a £1.4million pre-tax profit despite tough trading conditions and after a near £1 million investment in expansion in the UK and Central and South America.
Sales in 2007/2008 (July-June) were up from £13.562m to £15.641m compared to 2006/2007, while pre-tax profit was at £1.345m, down from £1.806m, after investments.
McBains Cooper has regional headquarters in London (head office), Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Oxford, Windsor, Lima (Peru) and Mexico City, with associate offices in Belfast and Dublin.
Completed client contracts include new Police headquarters in Gloucestershire and Cleveland, as well as major projects underway in the UK and abroad.
“We’ve spent the past four years building and investing rather than taking the cash, and this has put us in a reassuring position – given the state of the market and our investment levels, we have in effect pulled ahead of the competition,” said Michael Thirkettle, Chief Executive.
“When we took control of the business in 2003, sales were £9.5 million, and the business was on a knife-edge in what was actually a pretty buoyant market – that’s what makes these most recent figures so deeply satisfying.
“The commitment of management and staff means that we have seen a strong turnaround since 2003, and the business is on target for £15 million sales and a repeated £1.0m plus profit in 2008/2009 in what has been one of the most difficult ever periods for the construction industry.
“A key contributor has been that we don’t see walls between our skills, disciplines and departments, we see wide-open doors and a complete lack of conflict – our people communicate, monitor budgets, share ideas, design issues and developments like no other construction business. We refer to it as ‘interdisciplinary’ as opposed to the far more adversarial multi-disciplinary approach - and the benefits to our clients, business and people are huge.
“We invested £1 million in new offices, new people and business expansion in 2008, we are growing, we have money in the bank, we have no debt issues – and we have no difficulty in borrowing when we need to; that’s a combination of statements rarely heard in the construction industry in 2009.”
McBains Cooper has opened offices in Mexico and Peru, as well as Leeds, in the past 12 months.
“Our approach of providing seamless interdisciplinary processes from one workforce, in contrast to a traditional construction industry multi-disciplinary approach - which seems to promote conflict and tugs of war over budgets, design and approach – means we drive through projects on time and on budget. Delays, for which the construction industry is notorious, cost money – the attitude of our people means we don’t suffer delays,” said Michael Thirkettle.
“Our reputation is built upon that reliability and level of discipline, and that reputation is travelling well.” |
