Billington celebrates its 70th year with a profits hike and strong new orders

STRUCTURAL STEEL group Billington is celebrating its 70th anniversary with a 29 per cent leap in half year profits and a number of significant contract awards.

The Barnsley-based firm said it has a strong forward order book and it expects a similar performance during the second half of the year, supported by a number of large contracts in the pipeline.

New contracts include a large retail distribution centre near Bristol, reported to be for online giant Amazon, and a deal for a new multi-storey structure for The London School of Economics.

Despite the slowdown in construction, Billington has seen good growth and strong demand.

Chief executive Mark Smith said: “We’ve seen a steady flow of enquiries in both quality and quantity. Our pipeline looks strong and the work expands seven sectors. There is commercial building in Manchester, Leeds and London, strong demand from retailers, energy from waste and school projects.

“We are not seeing one sector struggling and we are seeing larger projects feed through. We are a world class company that can deliver.”

Revenue rose 27 per cent to £34m in the six months to June 30 and pre-tax profit rose 29 per cent to £2.2m.

Projects carried out during the half year have included an IKEA store in Sheffield, commercial offices in London and, after successfully completing buildings 3, 5 & 6 of Wellington Place in Leeds, Billington has recently secured another two projects on

“A year on from the Brexit vote and the market appears to be in a stable position, with UK consumption of constructional steel forecast to remain consistent into 2020,” said Mr Smith. the development.