Water & Wastewater Treatment

Stonbury explores new avenues for growth STONBURY Chawston House Chawston Lane Chawston Bedford Bedfordshire MK44 3BH Tel: 01234 750924 www.stonbury.com THE LEADERS 2019 Specialist contractor to the water industry Stonbury had what it described as a "relatively disappointing year" in 2018, as some lucrative one-off schemes were not replicated. However, its strong long-term order book, underpinned by framework agreements to clean and refurbish potable water assets for nearly all the UK's water companies, provides a strong platform for its future continued success. Stonbury specialises in the repair, refurbishment and maintenance of service reservoirs, water towers and associated structures; it also has a civil engineering arm. The company, which has its HQ in Bedfordshire, is strong in specialist areas such as investigation and testing, cleaning and chlorination, corrosion protection, repairing and lining digesters and sludge tanks, and the refurbishment and repair of many types of concrete and steel structures. "The company has Trant Engineering saw increases in revenue, gross profit, operating profit and pre-tax profit in 2017, putting its continued growth down to "an expansive and balanced portfolio of projects and clients across the business", which operates in sectors including energy, water and process, oil and gas and defence. The firm – which offers a 'total engineering' service covering civil, mechanical, electrical and process – has invested heavily in strategic resources and capabilities recently, and secured a partnership with SFC Umwelttechnik in 2017 to use its advanced water and wastewater treatment technologies in the UK & Ireland. "A large number of UK water companies have expressed interest in utilising the technologies in AMP7," Trant business development director Brendan Dowd tells The Leaders 2019. Trant has emphasised the importance of the business being at the cutting edge and said last continued to invest further in overhead and capital expenditure, leaving the business very well placed to continue to provide outstanding service to our customers, to serve the needs of our employees and suppliers, through the remainder of AMP6 and on into AMP7," CEO James Stonor said in the firm's annual report. Stonbury holds five- or ten-year framework contracts with 11 of the UK's largest water companies, covering over 75 per cent of the UK. Last May, it launched the expansion of its services into year that it is "investing more than ever in smart technology" across various areas, including engineering design, offsite fabrication, communications and customer care apps. "The strategic intent of the business continues to be founded on the delivery of total engineering solutions to our clients in a collaborative manner, as a tier 1 provider," chairman Patrick Trant said upon publication of the 2017 accounts. "This offers clients a single point of responsibility for the delivery of smart engineering and procurement and construction projects from front-end engineering design Scotland, with an HQ in Peebles and under the leadership of Iain Weir. It also reshuffled its top team, with Ian Mellor being promoted from operations director to managing director, while Stonor stepped up from MD to become chief executive of the Stonbury Group. The company is doing an increasing amount of work through direct procurement for its customers as well as on behalf of water company alliances. It is also emphasising its expertise in wastewater in addition to its traditional strength in clean water. phase through to the operating and commissioning." He added that the board is confident that the "continued investment and upstreaming of the business" will benefit both the business and its clients. Trant has emphasised the importance of its staff to the success of the business, and the company's in-house 'professional forum' continues to deliver strong results, providing support for employees to achieve membership and accreditation to professional institutions. "This investment has helped achieve strong growth in all areas of the business," Dowd adds. THE NUMBERS 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/18 % change Sales £m 12.5 12.7 16.8 24.0 23.4 -3 Gross profit £m 3.6 4.5 5.8 7.5 6.4 -15 Operating profit £m 0.4 1.4 2.4 2.8 1.3 -54 Pre-tax profit £m 0.4 1.4 2.4 0.4 0.3 -25 Staff 77 75 111 165 205 24 Net assets £m 1.0 0.7 1.8 1.3 1.5 15 THE RATIOS 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 % change Return on capital % 42.8 36.5 214.7 132.1 30.2 Gross margin % 23.7 28.8 35.3 34.2 31.4 Operating margin % 5.1 3.3 11.4 14.4 11.7 Net margin % 5.1 3.1 11.3 14.4 1.7 Sales/employee £k 319.0 161.9 168.8 151.5 145.6 THE NUMBERS 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 % change Sales £m 79.4 84.2 78.4 105.4 111.7 6 Gross profit £m 7.3 6.5 6.8 7.0 7.3 4 Operating profit £m 0.8 1.3 1.8 1.7 1.9 10 Pre-tax profit £m 0.6 1.3 1.6 1.6 1.8 15 Staff 538 528 495 502 519 3 Net assets £m 5.3 6.2 7.2 7.8 8.7 11 THE RATIOS 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 % change Return on capital % 11.3 21.6 22.5 20.4 21.1 4 Gross margin % 9.1 7.8 8.7 6.7 6.5 -2 Operating margin % 1.0 1.5 2.2 1.6 1.7 4 Net margin % 0.8 1.6 2.1 1.5 1.6 9 Sales/employee £k 147.6 159.4 158.4 210.0 215.2 2 Trant profits amid total engineering focus TRANT ENGINEERING Rushington House Rushington Southampton Hampshire SO40 9LT Tel: 023 8066 5544 www.trant.co.uk LEADERS 2019 29

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