NG Bailey announces return to profitability

The recovery follows losses in both underlying profit and pre-tax profit for the previous year.

Chief executive of NG Bailey, David Hurcomb, said: “NG Bailey has made a strong recovery following the pandemic, evidenced by our return to profitability.

“This demonstrates the strength of our diversified business plan, which is increasingly important given the challenging economic environment driven by inflationary pressures and skilled labour shortages.

“Given the current trading environment, the strength of our balance sheet remains one of our key differentiators as our customers look for stability in their supply chains.

“With our market leading capability to provide services across the whole built environment lifecycle, we are well positioned to not only face any short-term challenges but also successfully deliver our strategic growth plans.”

The company reported an underlying operating profit of £0.8m, compared with a loss of £2.7m in 2020/21, and pre-tax profit of £3m, up from a loss of £4.4m last year.

EBITDA was also reported to be £7m, compared to £3m the year prior.

Annual turnover was in line with the previous year at £500m (£507m in 2020/21).

NG Bailey has also maintained its strong balance sheet with net assets of £147m, including cash and investments of £79m, while the group’s order book also remained consistent at £1.2bn.

The business achieved a number of key milestones this year, including the recruitment of its highest number of apprentices for 15 years, with around 100 apprentices joining the business in 2022.

The Group has also launched a new graduate recruitment programme as part of a refreshed learning and development strategy.

NG Bailey also made progress on its Net Positive responsibility strategy with the launch of its electric vehicle infrastructure offering.

The strategy aims to enable the company to play a key role in the UK’s transition to a low carbon economy.

The group also made headway in its use of offsite manufacture techniques, demonstrated in the construction of its London office block, The Forge.

Such techniques involve the manufacturing of construction elements in a factory environment, prior to their being installed on site.

NG Bailey notes that this approach enables significant project benefits when compared to traditional construction methods.

Further growth was also achieved by the company through a number of acquisitions, namely Kershaw’s service and maintenance division joining the group’s facilities services business.

A number of promotions and appointments were also undertaken throughout the year, with Tim Simmons being appointed as managing director of the company’s services division, and John Kelly being appointed as managing director of its engineering division.

The company also achieved a record low accident frequency rate of 0.02, which they note is an industry leading figure.

NG Bailey’s Services division has also reported a quick recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The division is formed of three separate business streams; Facilities Services, IT Services, and Freedom, which provides facilities and engineering services principally to the DNO market.

Each performed well during the financial year, showing increased turnover and profitability.

The division's collective underlying operating profit, excluding goodwill amortisation, was £7.1m.

Turnover for the division now accounts for almost half of the overall Group.