WET News

leaders 2016 11 about retention of skill. You read some horrific stories about what it can do to a workforce." Stonbury believes it has found the answer to staff retention in an industry dominated by its cyclic nature. It has introduced what Stoner considers to be "a unique way" of how it pays site staff that allows a far higher earning based on performance. "I won't tell you the details of it because we think it's so clever," laughs Stoner, "but it probably means our site staff are the highest paid site staff in the water industry." Return Stoner continues: "Retention is extremely high, performance is ridiculously high, and if we need to expand taking on new staff it's quite easy for us. "It's about valuing people. If you value people highly, especially people on site, and the return is well worth it from a business perspective commercially and in terms of the culture we want to have in this company." The company also ensures that its employees are prepared for the AMP cycle's notorius year five, when the water sector's downturn traditionally takes effect. Stoner explains: "We suggest what they save in the four years because their bonuses won't be there in year five. We offer unlimited holiday to people in year five – if someone's planning six months in Australia, please do that in year five and as a company we'll let you. You have to have some flexibility. "We want all the people that went into year five with us going into year one." THE NUMBERS 12/13 13/14 14/15 % cHaNgE Sales £M 14.0 12.5 12.7 2 Gross profit £M 3.3 3.6 4.5 25 Operating profit £M 0.7 0.4 1.5 260 Pre-tax profit £M 0.7 0.4 1.5 280 Staff 44 77 75 -3 Net assets £M 1.7 1.0 0.7 -35 THE RaTIOS 12/13 13/14 14/15 % cHaNgE Return on capital % 42.8 36.5 212.8 483 Gross margin % 23.7 28.8 35.3 23 Operating margin % 5.1 3.3 11.6 255 Net margin % 5.1 3.1 11.5 274 Sales/employee £K 319.0 161.9 168.8 4 Stonbury ensures staff are prepared for the peaks and troughs of the AMP cycle The LeADeRS 2016

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