Powering up skyscrapers brings high rising results
MARK Lawrence was 17 years old when he joined
T Clarke as an apprentice. Today, he is 51 and runs the company. Lawrence’s rise through the ranks is no accident.
This 130-year-old engineering business believes in hiring staff early, training them and helping them progress. The approach does not just engender loyalty amongst employees; it also builds trust with customers.
Even as many firms fret about Brexit, bad weather and high street closures, TClarke goes from strength to strength. And so do the shares. Recommended by Midas at 76.5p in August 2017, the stock is now trading at £1.16 and brokers believe there is further to go.
T Clarke specialises in the gubbins that make buildings work – wires and cables for lighting, heating, water, security and the internet, a crucial element of almost every site these days. Projects include Google’s new headquarters in London’s King’s Cross, several of the tallest skyscrapers in the City, luxury hotels and hospitals, schools and homes up and down the country.
In May, the company said its order book was at a record £403million, with almost 90 per cent of contracts coming from existing customers. These firms come to T Clarke because they trust the firm to deliver high quality work on time and on budget.
If a bank needs to upgrade trading software over a weekend, for example, the new system has to be up and running by Sunday evening. T Clarke will ensure that it is.
Founded in 1889, the group started out as a pioneer in electric power and there is a focus on innovation to this day. An increasing proportion of the firm’s workload centres on systems that turn ordinary spaces into ‘smart ready buildings’, where owners and users can turn on lights, heating, ventilation, TV, music and suchlike from their mobile phone.
Data centres are another growing part of the business. T Clarke supplies these huge sites with the cables and wires that make them tick and there is so much demand for the firm’s services that Lawrence is opening up in Europe. The firm intends to help customers to build data centres in Finland, Spain and the Netherlands.
All these projects require a large workforce. T Clarke employs 1,400 people, of which almost 230 are apprentices. These teenagers participate in a four-year training programme and more than 95 per cent of them stay with the company afterwards – a clear tribute to its culture.
Looking ahead, Lawrence is optimistic and City analysts are too. In 2017, the company produced profits of £6.5 million. This year, profits of £9.3million are expected, rising to almost £10million in 2020. The group also strives to raise its dividend by 10 per cent annually, with 4.4p pencilled in for 2019, climbing to 4.8 or 4.9p the year after.