WET News

THE LEADERS 2019 THE NUMBERS 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 % change Sales £m 98.9 92.3 104.0 110.7 117.1 6 Gross profit £m 32.3 31.5 39.5 38.1 45.4 19 Operating profit £m 4.6 5.8 12.6 7.9 7.1 -10 Pre-tax profit £m 4.8 6.2 13.0 8.6 7.5 -13 Staff 1,086 1,032 989 1,052 1,064 1 Net assets £m 27.7 29.3 39.9 32.2 33.5 4 THE RATIOS 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 % change Return on capital % 17.2 21.1 32.6 26.7 22.4 -16 Gross margin % 32.6 34.1 38.0 34.4 38.8 13 Operating margin % 4.6 6.3 12.1 7.2 6.1 -15 Net margin % 4.8 6.7 12.5 7.8 6.4 -18 Sales/employee £k 91.1 89.4 105.1 105.2 110.1 5 STANTEC UK Dominion House Temple Court Birchwood Warrington WA3 6GD Tel: 01925 845 000 www.stantec.com Stantec resumes consultancy focus After expanding its offering into infrastructure following the merger with MWH, Stantec announced at the end of last year that it was selling its construction division and resuming full focus on its core consulting services business globally. Stantec, which had previously focused on North America, has retained a significant presence in the UK following the sale, with more than 1,700 team members based here, including around 1,000 who joined from MWH's UK-based consultancy business. Among its current contracts, Stantec secured a seven-year contract to 2025 as strategic planning partner to Yorkshire Water, which sees it tasked with driving innovation in the approach to resolving risk and exploiting new technology, partnership working and use of markets. In October, it was announced that it had been selected as South West Water's strategic consultant for AMP7, providing a wide range of managerial and design services and working closely with the water company's engineering, asset planning and operations teams, while assisting the delivery partners as appropriate. "AMP7 will present new challenges and opportunities, including the largest Water Industry National Environmental Programme the sector has ever seen," water strategy director Tim Williams tells The Leaders 2019. "We will work across the industry to help our clients drive further progress in areas ranging from catchment management through to leakage reduction and water demand management, encompassing digital delivery and strategic water movements." Globally, Stantec met all its financial targets for consulting services in 2018, with net revenue from continuing operations growing by 5.7 per cent over the course of the year. "For Stantec, 2018 was a year of transition as we returned to our core business as a pure-play design consulting firm," Gord Johnston, Stantec's president and chief executive officer, said. "Consulting services' strong financial performance achieved the 2018 targets we established at the start of the year, demonstrating our commitment and ability to deliver continued organic growth, achieve disciplined growth through our proven acquisition strategy, and operate effectively." SKANSKA UK Maple Cross House Denham Way Maple Cross Rickmansworth Hertfordshire WD3 9SW Tel: 01923 776666 www.skanska.co.uk The UK arm of Swedish-owned contracting firm Skanska has 6,000 employees in this country; its utilities division has been led by managing director Peter Walsh since March 2018. The company has undergone significant changes since the departure of long-standing chief executive Mike Putnam in May 2017. Now part of the Skanska Europe business unit, the UK business was restructured into two divisions in March 2018, with the aim of improving its overall service to customers. One division covers building, facilities management and mechanical and electrical work, while the other concentrates on infrastructure. In water, Skanska is part of one of the industry's most prominent and successful collaborations, Anglian Water's @one alliance, which has a long-term contract for capital works with the eastern utility until 2030 and is considered an exemplar of an intelligent client delivery model. Major AMP7 projects for the alliance include a 55km pipeline from Lincoln to Alliances key to Skanska fortunes Grantham, which forms an integral part of Anglian's Water Resource Management Plan. Skanska also has a place in Thames Water's eight2O alliance and Welsh Water's Capital Delivery Alliance. As part of the Welsh Water contract, it is responsible, as part of a joint venture with Arcadis, for delivering a variety of projects from installing wind turbines to power water treatment works to upgrading dams and installing pipes. The company is using some of the latest technology, including a fully immersive 360-degree BIM igloo, which reduces the amount of design work during the construction and handover period and allows the supply chain to get involved at an earlier stage. Drones are also used for surveying assets that are difficult to get to, which reduces health and safety risks as well as costs. Financial results for Skanska UK overall have been disappointing in the last three years, with pre-tax profits falling to £13.5 million in the year to December 2017, down from £23.6 million a year earlier. THE NUMBERS 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 % change Sales £m 1,120.7 1,260.5 1,383.5 1,650.6 1,802.7 9 Gross profit £m 121.1 123.5 118.2 112.9 77.9 -31 Operating profit £m 40.0 38.0 40.6 22.6 14.6 -35 Pre-tax profit £m 44.2 41.3 42.1 23.6 13.5 -43 Staff 4,360 5,174 5,312 5,559 5,741 3 Net assets £m 257.7 254.1 277.0 259.7 261.8 1 THE RATIOS 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 % change Return on capital % 17.1 16.2 15.2 9.1 5.2 -43 Gross margin % 10.8 9.8 8.5 6.8 4.3 -37 Operating margin % 3.6 3.0 2.9 1.4 0.8 -41 Net margin % 3.9 3.3 3.0 1.4 0.7 -48 Sales/employee £k 257.0 243.6 260.4 296.9 314.0 6 28 LEADERS 2019

• Cover