Which companies are likely to have the biggest impact on the industry in the year ahead?
Lendlease
Its UK business is a mainstay in the CN100, coming 39th in 2024’s table (its highest position was 24th in 2017).
But in May, Lendlease announced a withdrawal from the UK and other construction markets outside its Australian home, saying they were a “drag” on shareholder returns. At first, Lendlease group chief executive and managing director (MD) Tony Lombardo estimated that the UK and US businesses would be sold by the end of 2025, with the MD of Lendlease Europe Simon Gorski set to stay until the sale completed. But in July Gorski stepped down, throwing further scrutiny on the sale. It is unclear how many firms have bid for the company, though Gorski did not deny speculation that five firms were interested.
At the time of publication, the sale had yet to be completed. The question now is whether it will be finalised in 2025.
Firms involved in the Grenfell Tower revamp
On the day the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s final report was released, prime minister Keir Starmer told Parliament that his government would “reform the construction products industry so homes are made of safe materials, and those who compromise that safety will face the consequences”.
And in November, CN reported that the government has written initial warning letters to all the firms named in the report, including product manufacturers.
We still don’t know the content of these letters. So will firms like Kingspan, Arconic, Celotex and Rydon lose access to all public work? What are the implications for their ongoing jobs, and what about their projects in the private sector?
Answers to these important questions may yet emerge in 2025.
Statom
It’s been a good year for Statom. The reinforced concrete specialist capitalised on a spike in demand for reinforced concrete frames, increasing its revenue by more than a quarter
to £143.2m in the year to 30 November 2023.Pre-tax profit also increased by 9 per cent to reach £8m.
The firm has invested in its own plant and machinery and brought in new senior managers.
It is also looking to increase work in the housing and infrastructure sectors in a bid to diversify its income streams.
Statom picked up the CN Awards Specialist Contractor of the Year trophy in 2024, after judges praised its “passionate commitment, clever integration of the supply chain, and first-class training”.
Perhaps the firm will follow up its award-winning performance with another strong financial showing this year.
Laing O’Rourke
Last year, Construction News told readers to keep a “close eye” on Cathal O’Rourke, who had moved from Australia to take over as chief operating officer at Laing O’Rourke. Fast forward a year and he is now chief executive, having taken over from his father Ray O’Rourke in July.
In September, the tier one firm behind the new Everton stadium (pictured) bounced back to a pre-tax profit of £40m, following its pre-tax loss of £288.1m the year before. Directors said the recovery came after the contractor focused “on delivering projects with certainty and building resilience”.
Could the improved financial performance herald the start of a Laing O’Rourke renaissance?
MADE Partnership
Created by Labour after it won power in July, MADE Partnership could provide the template for major new government-driven housing schemes. New garden villages are the target of the joint venture between Homes England, Barratt Developments and Lloyds Bank.
It has initially been backed by up to £150m of equity from the three partners, and will receive more as its development work ramps up. But it is unclear whether MADE will help the government achieve its ambitious target of 1.5 million new homes by 2029.
And how will success be measured – will it be the number of homes built, the innovations used, or the number of garden villages delivered? And will further funding be incumbent on a measurement of “success”? 2025 might be the year we find out.
Balfour Beatty
The UK’s biggest contractor saw profit and margin fall last year but chief executive Leo Quinn has high hopes for the future.
In June, he said he would be “embarrassed” if his company does not double its margin “in the current environment”. Balfour Beatty’s pre-tax margin narrowed to 3.1 per cent in its latest accounts covering the 2023 calendar year, compared with 3.8 per cent the year before.
But Quinn insisted his firm’s “front and centre” position in the energy security, transportation and defence sectors gives it scope to go beyond 6 per cent.
He also said shareholders had undervalued the firm, especially considering major forthcoming public investment in the infrastructure sector.
Quinn did not give a timescale for when he wants Balfour Beatty to double its margin, but his target should help motivate the firm to scale greater heights in the year ahead.
Sir Robert McAlpine
2024 was not the easiest year for Sir Robert McAlpine. After comfortably staying in the black with a £9.3m pre-tax profit in the year to October 2022, it slumped to a £102.6m loss the next year. Coming back from that level of loss will not be easy.
The contractor blamed high inflation and supply chain issues for its troubles and was forced to devalue four major contracts.
But the firm is sitting prettier as 2025 begins, with a £4bn contract to build a gigafactory in Somerset for client Agratas. Could the Labour Party’s commitment to drive investment in gigafactories and other high-tech infrastructure continue to help McAlpine out of its sticky patch?
Housebuilders
The housebuilding sector is never far from the news. For years, firms have been putting aside provisions to deal with cladding remediation, but they are also at the forefront of plans to meet the government’s ambitious 1.5 million homes target. One notable event was a major merger, with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) greenlighting a £2.5bn join-up between Redrow and Barratt in October.
But the merger that didn’t happen should also be remembered. Despite Crest Nicholson’s board saying in July that it was “minded to recommend” a £720m bid from Bellway, the latter then decided not to proceed with its purchase of the smaller firm. Bellway did not reveal why it decided against the purchase – recent troubles at Vistry might make it an attractive proposition.
Winvic
Is there a bigger word in the construction sector right now than innovation? We have heard how it can save time and money, and improve safety. Winvic is one of the firms at the forefront, declaring in September that it had used remote control cranes for the first time – removing the need for a crane operative.
The contractor has also benefited from the increasing demand for data centres. This helped Winvic to near-double its profit in its latest accounts for the year to 31 January 2024, although turnover fell by 21 per cent. With demand for IT infrastructure likely to stay strong, and with innovation set to remain the industry byword, where could Winvic’s bottom line end up in the year to come?
Mace
Mace’s revenue reached a record £2.36bn in 2023, up 25 per cent, while profit soared by nearly 70 per cent to £61.7m. That cemented its place as the fifth-biggest contractor in the UK. This month, Mark Reynolds will step down from the chief executive role he has held for 12 years, continuing as chairman. If “hard work” can lead to his firm more than doubling its revenue since he joined in 2012, as Reynolds said, what could be achieved in the next year under successor Jason Millett?
The contractor has a slice of the London offices market and is also involved in infrastructure renewal at Heathrow Airport.Given the firm’s experience in complex projects such as HS2, It will be interesting to see if more rail infrastructure work comes Mace’s way in 2025.
