Demolition firm Brown and Mason Group has seen its profits quadruple, leading to a sixfold margin increase despite a second successive year of lower turnover.
Group accounts for the year to 30 April 2024 were filed today (29 January) with Companies House.
They reveal that the firm’s pre-tax profit more than quadrupled from £516,200 to £2.7m, although turnover dropped by 11 per cent from £50m to £44.7m. This followed a 2 per cent decrease in turnover in 2023.
Brown and Mason’s latest profit margin was 6.4 per cent compared with the previous year’s 1 per cent.
Directors said the firm took “decisive action” to “adapt to challenges faced and control overheads”.
They added that in recent years the company “has experienced a number of critical business factors”, citing features such as general UK economic conditions, the impact of Brexit, wage inflation and high energy costs.
“These factors have inevitably given rise to future economic uncertainty for the company,” the accounts noted.
However, operational efficiencies over the past year have placed Brown and Mason “on strong footings that ensure it is well-positioned to capitalise on future opportunities”, directors said.
They added that the firm’s pipeline “remains strong on the back of further contract wins during and after the year, and the directors anticipate further contract wins over the next 12 months”.
Ongoing projects include the demolition of the former West Burton Power Station in Nottinghamshire, on a site planned to be occupied by a prototype Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) nuclear fusion plant.
The directors said they will “continue to manage costs and resources effectively and prudently on its multi-year contracts, the results of which are expected to be reflected in improved margins in future years”.
While cost management was a priority, the accounts stated that Brown and Mason had sufficient cashflow facilities to invest in new plant, “allowing it to target further growth in revenues in financial year 2025”.
Despite last year’s drop in turnover, the firm was ranked 9th in the CN Specialists Index of top demolition contractors.
The new accounts showed that cash at hand fell from £4.8m to £1.7m, but Brown and Mason was able to reduce its bank loan debts.
The company’s short-term repayable loans fell by 3 per cent to £189,700, while loans repayable after more than one year decreased by 15 per cent to £801,800.
During the year, the directors declared dividends of £900,000. No dividends were paid the year before.
Brown and Mason employed a monthly average of 242 staff, down from 272 in the previous year’s accounts.
Group subsidiary Brown and Mason Ltd (renamed CBR02 Ltd in April 2022 and dissolved in December 2023) was one of 10 demolition contractors fined in 2023 by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for tender price collusion.
Former group managing director Nicholas Brown subsequently received a director ban until 29 July 2030.
The latest group accounts stated that Brown resigned from the board on 19 July last year “and ceased all involvement in its management”.
However, he remains employed “in an advisory and supporting role, subject to strict compliance” with the terms of a disqualification undertaking he gave to the CMA.
