WET News

30 Leaders 2016 Building on a solid foundation McNicholas lismirrane industrial Park Elstree Road Elstree herts WD6 3Ea Tel: 020 8953 4144 www.mcnicholas.co.uk MoRgaN siNDall corporation street Rugby cV21 2DW Tel: 01788 534500 the LeADeRS 2016 McNicholas, a service provider in the utilities, communications, renewables and rail markets, said it has a solid foundation by which to increase turnover and to instigate a consistent drive for improved margins. This follows a year where it faced "significant challenges" as several longer-term frame- works were being completed and extensions were being renegotiated. Its utilities activities include delivering work in the water and wastewater sector through framework agree- ments. The group has concen- trated on building its long-term order book as framework renewals in both the telecoms and power sectors have come to market. The company specialises in design and construction services and managing the supply, install, testing and commissioning of civil, Morgan Sindall's water activities account for 9% of the group's Construction and Infrastructure division, and a highlight of the past year has been to have won work on the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken by the UK water industry – the Tideway tunnel. Tunnelling continues to be a key activity for Morgan Sindall, and the division is working on a number of the UK's most complex infrastruc- ture projects including the tunnel where Morgan Sindall has the £300M-£500M West section of the £4bn-plus Thames Tideway Tunnel as part of the BMB joint venture with partners BAM Nuttall and Balfour Beatty. The deal is with infrastructure provider Bazalgette Tunnel. Within its utility services business Morgan Sindall was reappointed to two key frameworks, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water and Yorkshire Water, for AMP6. Projects include clean water and wastewater schemes ranging in value mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, control and automation solutions. On the water and waste- water side of its business, McNicholas said its qualified industry specialists can plan the most cost-effective programme, whether it is in a highly congested inner London site, or regional and local projects across the UK, delivering design and construction services and managing the supply, install, testing and commissioning of from around £100,000 to £35M. A recently completed project for Welsh Water was the £25M upgrade of four wastewater treatment works in South Wales to reduce the total phosphorous concentra- tion within each works' final effluent discharge. Nick Fletcher, managing director of Morgan Sindall's Infrastructure division, said the group had continued to secure and deliver strategi- cally important contracts across its business through- out 2015, whilst its commit- ment to working safely and sustainably, providing ThE NUMBERs 2012 2013 2014 % chaNgE Sales £M 2,047.1 2,094.9 2,219.8 6 Gross profit £M 186.7 156.6 181.0 16 Operating profit £M 35.2 16.2 26.5 64 Pre-tax profit £M 34.2 13.9 22.8 64 Staff 6,384 n/a n/a n/a Net assets £M 249.7 257.5 268.5 4 ThE RaTios 2012 2013 2014 % chaNgE Return on capital % 13.7 5.4 8.5 57 Gross margin % 9.1 7.5 8.2 9 Operating margin % 1.7 0.8 1.2 54 Net margin % 1.7 0.7 1.0 55 Sales/employee £K 320.7 n/a n/a n/a Tideway 'West' deal a key win ThE NUMBERs 12/13 13/14 14/15 % chaNgE Sales £M 176.7 143.1 156.0 9 Gross profit £M 20.1 20.0 15.1 -25 Operating profit £M 5.1 4.3 0.6 -87 Pre-tax profit £M 4.7 4.0 0.4 -91 Staff 1,585 1,382 1,442 4 Net assets £M 8.9 9.8 5.9 -40 ThE RaTios 12/13 13/14 14/15 % chaNgE Return on capital % 52.8 41.0 6.3 -85 Gross margin % 11.4 14.0 9.7 -31 Operating margin % 2.9 3.0 0.4 -88 Net margin % 2.6 2.8 0.2 -91 Sales/employee £K 111.5 103.6 108.2 4 civil, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, control and automation solutions. It advises on feasibility, programming and contact with statutory bodies and other interested third parties, and can help with compre- hensive surveys and mapping of existing utilities. The company also offers advanced 3D modelling along with full design services through its in-house civil engineering and mechanical and electrical design teams. exceptional service to our stakeholders and ensuring effective cost management, has remained paramount. Group chairman Adrian Martin said margins in construction and infrastruc- ture had remained low as expected. However, it was encourag- ing to see the steady improve- ment in performance over the second half of the year having made progress in closing out its older lower margin construction contracts in London and the South. "The division now stands on a much stronger footing going forward," he said.

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