Bedfordshire-based contractor SDC has attributed a modest increase in turnover and profit to two-stage contracting and a strong market in Oxford and Cambridge.
The CN100 firm’s profit grew by 15 per cent in the year ending 30 September 2024, to £2.63m.
SDC, which claims to be the first British construction company to operate under an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) model, also grew its turnover by 7 per cent to £246.9m.
Director Andrew Mitchell wrote that the firm had benefitted from most of its contracts being let on a two-stage basis, enabling it to “maintain predictability in the project delivery phase” and keep relationships with its long-standing clients.
Most of SDC’s turnover came from building education and technical facilities and general industrial work, which generated £92.5m and £71.3m respectively.
The firm reported it had secured a workload of £175.5m for 2024/25 and £78.6m for 2025/26.
The Bedford-based contractor said work in Oxford and Cambridge formed the “backbone” of its work over the year, with efforts in the Oxford market “starting to fulfil the potential we envisaged”.
Key sectors included laboratory projects in both cities due to the rapidly expanding life sciences network, plus work for the colleges of their prestigious universities.
During the reporting period, SDC broke ground on a £20m Passivhaus student accommodation scheme for St Edmunds Hall, Oxford and topped out a £24m laboratory extension for the University of Cambridge.
The firm was also announced among Kier, Morgan Sindall and Bam on a £680m University of Cambridge framework in November 2023.
Since 2007, the firm’s share capital has been overseen by a trust set up with SDC employees as its beneficiaries.
EBTs differ from Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs), which are specific types of EBTs under which all employees must benefit equally. EOTs have faced scrutiny after major firms using the model, including Buckingham Group and Michael J Lonsdale, went into administration.
According to Mitchell, SDC enhanced contributions through its EBT to staff for the first time in 2024, through a 2 per cent payment into everyone’s company pension.
Mitchell wrote that the firm had no plans for significant growth, and that it was confident of delivering its business plan over the next year.
He said that material costs had stabilised but the “demise of other major contractors and the competitiveness of the industry” made failure of a key supplier an ongoing risk for the business.
