Focusing on work in public and regulated sectors has helped Galliford Try to achieve a £1.8bn turnover.
Announcing its full-year results to 30 June 2024, the tier one contractor – ranked 15th in the latest CN100 table – also revealed a pre-tax profit of £32.7m. This was 39.7 per cent higher than the previous year’s £23.4m.
Galliford Try’s year-end cash at hand was £227m. The firm has no debt and no pension liabilities.
Chief executive Bill Hocking told Construction News: “We have a very strong order book. We never have to take on work because we need to.”
The dividend to shareholders will be £24.2m – up from £23.5m the year before. The firm also announced a share buyback programme up to a maximum of £10m, “reflecting both a corporation tax refund and its confidence in future cash generation”.
Headcount stood at an average monthly figure of 4,200 people.
Hocking said that keeping a strong risk management culture among senior leaders was central to the firm’s success. “We are very selective about what we do and what we don’t do. We’re very disciplined about saying no to jobs that don’t fit the bill,” he said.
He revealed Galliford Try’s order book was now worth £3.8bn. It has 92 per cent of work in hand for 2025 and 70 per cent of work confirmed for 2026.
The firm’s big wins in 2024 came from water infrastructure upgrades including the Anglian Framework, contracts from Southern Water and the £3.7bn Wessex framework. It currently has 54 live frameworks in water.
In the building sector, the firm highlighted work at Brent Cross as a standout result and, on roads, the recent Aylesbury contract was also singled out.
Hocking told CN the firm had defence contracts worth £110m.
He added: “We’re always pleased with any win, to be honest.”
Looking ahead, the firm reaffirmed its strategic targets of £2.2bn turnover and a margin of 4 per cent by 2030.
Among the factors cited for this was the government’s focus on affordable housing – the firm has announced it is returning to the market – as well as its commitment to investing in infrastructure.
Hocking told CN the firm was not concerned by the chancellor’s upcoming Budget on 30 October. “They [the government] are not saying they’re going to stop the type of work that we do such as schools and prisons. The type of work that we do is very strong,” he said.
He added: “We’re very positive about the outlook. I don’t understand some of the doom and gloom that goes around the sector sometimes.”
Analysts responded positively to the announcement of a major firm that had “adeptly weathered the storm”, said Julie Palmer, partner at Begbies Traynor.
She added: “The construction firm is in a prime position to leverage the new government’s focus on infrastructure development.
“This strong showing, ahead of analysts’ expectations, is particularly notable as the sector contends with a rise in insolvencies, underscoring the economic pressures facing the industry. The easing of interest rates may offer some relief, yet the spectre of further collapses, such as ISG, looms over the market.”
