Nuttall achieves exceptional margins whilst maintaining turnover
Edmund Nuttall Ltd continued to trade successfully during 2005. Turnover remained stable at £470 million whilst profit before tax increased to £24 million, which represents an above average industry margin of 5.1%. The forward order book position as at 1st January 2006 has improved significantly to £798 million worth of secured work. These results reinforce Nuttall’s position as one of the UK’s best performing civil engineering contractors.
Improvements in health, safety and environmental performance continue to be strategic priorities. Nuttall’s overall incident frequency average trend has fallen from above 1.0 in 2000 to 0.65 in 2005, showing a year on year improvement of over 7%. This is an encouraging general trend, which the company intends will continue. Significant investment in education programmes will continue to highlight the importance of safe working practices and programmes on environmental awareness. The Don’t Walk By safety campaign, which was launched in 2004, continues to propagate significant behavioural change by all employees and the supply chain.
A number of significant projects were awarded during 2005; these included the renewal of the structures partnership contract with Network Rail in the Southern Region for a further five years, the A465 Heads of the Valley Road dualling scheme, between Gilwern and Abergavenny, the award of the Caxton Bypass on an ECI basis, a major remediation package in the Thames Gateway at Rochester Riverside and the first energy from waste award in Colnbrook.
Work is now nearing completion on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) 103 contract at Kings Cross and the Fastway guided bus route at Crawley. Projects on the M6 Thelwall Viaduct and M1 Tinsley Viaduct have been successfully completed. ECI schemes at Great Barford and Stoke are well advanced and both on schedule for completion during 2006.
The company has a stated aim to integrate with local communities during the term of a project by interfacing with key stakeholders in support of its corporate social responsibility policies and aims. There are many examples of good practice but one of the most innovative is the provision of a motorway accident emergency response unit by the Nuttall team at Thelwall Viaduct.
The company’s forward order book is looking particularly healthy for 2007 with the contracts for Network Rail, South West Water and Cheshire Highways providing a sound base for future turnover generation. The entry into the energy from waste sector, the development of the nuclear decommissioning and defence civils business will generate beneficial growth in subsequent years. Nuttall will continue to work closely with sister company HBG UK and there are many examples of joint collaboration with projects at Padstow, Liverpool South Parkway, Ferensway in Hull and the energy from waste plant in Colnbrook. Joint synergies will continue to be exploited wherever enhanced value can be achieved.
Edmund Nuttall Ltd is one of the UK’s leading civil engineering contractors, with a current turnover in excess of £500 million. The company operates throughout the country and has a strong regional presence with over 20 offices and plant depots. Nuttall is an operating company of the Dutch based construction company Royal BAM Group, which reported for 2005 a consolidated net result of EUR 153.3 million and a turnover of EUR 7.4 billion.
For further information contact: Peter Bishop, Public Relations Manager, Edmund Nuttall Ltd, telephone (01276) 85 47 08, Email peter.bishop@edmund-nuttall.co.uk