The top 10 UK steel contractors saw their total revenue rise by 2 per cent or £21.8m compared with the previous year’s figures, with eight firms reporting increased year-on-year revenues.
The top steel companies brought in a respectable total revenue of £1.37bn in their most recent accounts, up from £1.35bn the year before. Only two companies, first-placed Severfield and J&D Pierce in sixth, experienced a drop in turnover.
Total pre-tax profit also increased in comparison with the previous year and now stands at £83.52m, up from £73.35m the year before. This represents a £10.1m or 14 per cent increase.
Severfield retained its position as the UK’s top steel contractor despite a 6 per cent drop in revenue to £463.5m in the year ending 31 March 2024.
In its results announcement, Severfield pointed to its high-profile projects and prospects including Lord’s Cricket Ground, Everton Stadium, Tottenham Stadium, Sellafield, HS2 Euston, the Hornsea offshore wind farm and Sizewell. It added it was “on track to deliver another year of progress and a result for 2025 which is in line with expectations”.
J&D Pierce took a tumble from second to sixth position, after its revenue plummeted 47 per cent from £195.3m to £103.9m. However, this was due to its previous reporting period lasting 17 months while its latest accounts covered 12 months. The firm still posted the broadest profit margin in this year’s top 10 of 12.8 per cent.
Only one firm in this year’s top 10, Taziker, experienced a pre-tax loss, falling 125 per cent to deliver a deficit of £1.3m for the 12 months to 31 March 2023.
BHC reached the number three spot with revenue of £128m, a 33 per cent increase on the year before. The firm also reported a pre-tax margin of 11 per cent.
William Hare moved from third to second spot, with revenue increasing
by 13 per cent to £186m.
Matthew Nesbit, board member and director for William Hare Group, says: “We have worked very hard to remain at the forefront of our industry during a time that has been challenging given ongoing inflationary pressures, project delays and a changing political landscape.”
Fourth place Billington saw an astronomical 1,117 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to £13.4m as well as the largest increase in revenue at 40 per cent, with its latest turnover figure standing at £121.6m.
Walter Watson experienced the smallest increase in revenue of 2 per cent and a modest 4 per cent increase in pre-tax profit, but the second-broadest pre-tax profit margin of 12.2 per cent. BHC and Billington also recorded double-digit percentage margins.
The overall increase in revenue and profit for the top 10 steel specialists hides more difficult circumstances for the sector as a whole. A spokesperson for the British Constructional Steelwork Association (BCSA) tells Construction News: “The constructional steelwork market in 2023 seemed to be the lowest since 2008 and at the time projects were taking an extremely long time to get into contract. This was coupled with low stocks of steel sections nationally which have since been repaired.”
And there may be further trouble ahead. Earlier in 2024, the BCSA warned that there will be fewer office and industrial warehouse projects in the next two years, which will dampen demand for structural steel.
UK’S TOP 10 STEEL CONTRACTORS
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | Company | Revenue (£m) | Change (%) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Pre-tax margin (%) | Year ending | |||
| Latest | Previous | Latest | Previous | Latest | Previous | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | = | Severfield | 463.50 | 491.75 | -6 | 23.00 | 27.11 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 30/03/2024 |
| 2 | 3 | 1 | William Hare | 186.00 | 165.18 | 13 | 2.30 | 0.11 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 31/12/2023 |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | BHC | 128.00 | 96.45 | 33 | 14.08 | 10.12 | 11.0 | 10.5 | 31/03/2023 |
| 4 | 6 | 1 | Billington | 121.55 | 86.61 | 40 | 13.39 | 1.10 | 11.0 | 1.3 | 31/12/2023 |
| 5 | 5 | 1 | Caunton | 120.45 | 93.24 | 29 | 8.07 | 2.58 | 6.7 | 2.8 | 31/03/2023 |
| 6 | 2 | -4 | J&D Pierce | 103.79 | 195.25 | -47 | 13.30 | 19.21 | 12.8 | 9.8 | 31/12/2023 |
| 7 | 8 | 1 | Taziker | 87.05 | 73.48 | 18 | -1.26 | 5.14 | -1.4 | 7.0 | 31/03/2023 |
| 8 | 7 | -1 | Walter Watson | 77.77 | 75.95 | 2 | 9.47 | 9.08 | 12.2 | 12.0 | 31/12/2022 |
| 9 | 9 | 0 | Bourne Group | 50.61 | 44.36 | 14 | 0.89 | 0.26 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 31/10/2023 |
| 10 | 10 | = | Elland Steel | 35.19 | 29.82 | 18 | 0.28 | -1.36 | 0.8 | -4.6 | 30/06/2023 |
