WET News

leaders 2016 33 Morrison US makes good progress Mott MacDonald invests to increase productivity Morrison Utility services Abel smith House Gunnels Wood road stevenage Hertfordshire sG1 2st tel: 01438 743 744 www.morrisonus.com Mott MAcDonAlD 10 Fleet Place london ec4M 7rB t: 020 7651 0300 www.mottmac.com the LeADeRS 2016 Morrison Utility Services said 2014/15 has been a year of good progress overall with turnover increasing by nearly 13% to £585.3M. The company attributed the increase to additional work from BT's broadband roll-out activity, as well as growth in the water sector as new work in the current year and the full-year effect of con- tracts won in the previous 12 months took effect. The company said: "We live in challenging times, and whilst the UK utilities market is not immune to the current economic situation, it is perhaps rather more resilient that other parts of the economy. "As expected, the regulatory reviews in the water and electricity distribution markets supported and maintained a high level of investment by utility clients." It added: "Despite the Mott MacDonald says 2014 was a year of investment. There was its takeover of its design and build joint venture partner Bentley Holdings, including its subsidiary company JN Bentley, for an undisclosed sum. There was also investment on the group's global Business Improvement Programme, aimed at increasing produc- tivity and the ability to deliver projects. The development was described as a natural progression in the successful 15-year partnership between the companies through the Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB) joint venture. JN Bentley employs 700-plus people and has a turnover of £120M. More than 80% of its business is derived through MMB, which was established in 1999 to operate as a wholly integrated, co-located JV by combining all facets of design, pro- gramme management, site investigation and construc- tion in one organisation. The partnership was challenging economic circumstances, the outlook for Morrison Utility Services Ltd is sound, based on our strong order book, consistent operational performance and an excellent safety record." The company added: "We remain focused on delivering quality services for our clients that also drives profitable growth…" Morrison Utility Services is a leading service provider within the electricity, gas, formed specifically to deliver long-term, high volume programmes of projects for the UK's water companies throughout the industry's rolling five-year AMP cycles. MMB is one of four Construction Delivery Partners (CDPs) that will help deliver United Utilities' AMP6 and potentially AMP7 Capital Programmes. The new contract is expected to run until 2026, with a review a£er five years. Individual projects may be of any value and be located throughout the United Utilities operational region. This agreement will see telecommunication and water sectors, Its AMP6 contracts are with Anglian Water, Yorkshire Water, Southern Water, Thames Water, and Scottish Water. Recent projects include designing, planning and constructing a 22km pipeline across the Yorkshire National Park for Yorkshire Water. The project will strengthen resilience of the water supply network. MMB undertake the design and construction of projects across the whole of the United Utilities region and across the full spectrum of water and wastewater infrastructure and non-infrastructure, as well as energy related work. News of this contract award follows the extension of MMB's frameworks with both Severn Trent Water and Yorkshire Water into AMP6, announced in 2013, and the announcement in May 2014 of MMB's appointment to Anglian's new AMP6 Integrated Main Works Capital Alliance. tHe nUMBers 12/13 13/14 14/15 % cHAnGe Sales £M 550.2 518.4 585.3 13 Gross profit £M 32.3 30.7 33.0 7 Operating profit £M 20.4 19.2 20.0 4 Pre-tax profit £M 22.2 19.3 20.1 4 Staff 3,352 3,618 3,666 1 Net assets £M 102.0 116.8 131.7 13 tHe rAtios 12/13 13/14 14/15 % cHAnGe Return on capital % 21.7 16.5 15.3 -8 Gross margin % 5.9 5.9 5.6 -5 Operating margin % 3.7 3.7 3.4 -8 Net margin % 4.0 3.7 3.4 -8 Sales/employee £K 164.1 143.3 159.7 11 tHe nUMBers 2012 2013 2014 % cHAnGe Sales £M 526.9 547.4 579.3 6 Gross profit £M 192.1 209.8 223.3 6 Operating profit £M 18.4 12.4 28.0 126 Pre-tax profit £M 32.0 22.6 46.1 104 Staff 5,494 5,651 6,164 9 Net assets £M 319.7 327.0 314.0 -4 tHe rAtios 2012 2013 2014 % cHAnGe Return on capital % 10.0 6.9 14.7 113 Gross margin % 36.4 38.3 38.5 1 Operating margin % 3.5 2.3 4.8 113 Net margin % 6.1 4.1 8.0 93 Sales/employee £K 95.9 96.9 94.0 -3

• Cover