Sales exceed £450m for Blairgowrie’s Castle Water

UTILITY: Perthshire company provides water to thousands of business premises

Perthshire water firm Castle Water increased its sales to more than £450 million last year, new accounts have revealed.

The Blairgowrie company has capitalised on the deregulation of the water market in England to provide water and waste water services to businesses and the public sector.

Newly published annual accounts show Castle Water’s turnover increased to £452.3m for the year ending March 31 2019, from £439.6m in 2018.

Pre-tax profits more than halved from £6.9m in 2018 to £2.9m last year.

The directors said they considered the financial results as “satisfactory”.

In his director’s report, chief executive John Reynolds said: “The company has achieved gains in key target markets, notably public sector customers in England including local authorities, NHS Trusts and educational establishments.

“Growth in revenue and customer numbers has arisen from acquisitions and organically through contract wins, whilst higher costs reflect our substantial investment in customer service and supporting infrastructure.”

Castle Water provides billing, meter reading and a range of customer services to private and public sector firms, often making customers significant savings.

From forming five years ago the fast growing company now has almost 400 staff.

“The group has established a presence in key segments of the English and Scottish markets and has increased the range of additional services provided to customers both directly and through partners,” Mr Reynolds added.

“The group will continue to seek ways to grow market share, both organically and through acquisitions.”

In February the firm agreed £100m in new financial facilities with a banking consortium that included Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Santander.

In June the company secured a multimillion-pound contract with the Crown Commercial Service (CSS) adding 320 supply locations.

Mr Reynolds said the company is expected to continue to generate “positive cash flows” for the foreseeable future.

He said that given the company’s focus on the UK market, he does not anticipate the firm to be directly impacted by Brexit.

He added: “In the event economic growth slows this is likely to manifest itself through increased business failures.

“Credit risk management processes are in place to mitigate this risk.”

Picture: Steve Macdougall. John Reynolds, chief executive of Castle Water.