Family-owned Tameside firm Bardsley Construction grows turnover 33%

Greater Manchester building firm Bardsley Construction saw its turnover rise 33% last year.

The family-owned company generated sales of £68.3m during the 12 months to December 31, up from £51.4m in 2016.

The growth comes as the Tameside-headquartered business, which has a second office in Leeds, continues to diversify its workload in areas such as public sector, student accommodation, private residential, private rented sector (PRS) and leisure.

Against the rising turnover, pre-tax profits came in at £1.1m, up from £800k the year previous, while operating profits rose from £860k in 2016 to £1.17m last year.

Managing director Paul Strutt said: “The business is now regularly competing for projects in the midrise market and for contracts of £20m or more and this is evidenced with Bardsley currently having a number of major projects in the heart of the city centre in Manchester and Liverpool.

“Private developers react quicker than public sector but strategically as a business we will remain minded to keep the balance of public and private sector in the right proportion.”

He continued: “Whilst there continues to be delays in contracts starting on site driven largely by the planning process, there is also a general unease and uncertainty of what is around the corner in macro-economic terms.”

Speaking further, Paul said Bardsley is now on course for a “healthy” 2018, with a pipeline of secured contracts worth more than £60m and a further £12m due to be secured by June.

Chairman Roly Bardsley said the business had benefited from reducing its reliance on the affordable housing market, partly because it “remains slow to react to the constant pleading towards the public sector enablers to build more homes”.

He added: “The delay in public sector work in 2016 continued into 2017 with the only real change being the healthier enquiry levels for elderly care.”

Bardsley, he said, will continue specialising in education, elderly care and all aspects of residential development.

The company employs 184 staff and is currently on 13 major delivery frameworks.

Big contracts last year included a £30m private rented sector (PRS) scheme in Ancoats, Manchester for property firm Mulbury; a 172-room hotel for Axcel Hospitality, also in Ancoats; and a multi-million pound retirement development in Southport.

Last month, Bardsley signed a £9.8m deal to become the main contractor for Regenda Homes’ upcoming supported living scheme in Fleetwood, Lancashire.

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