'Billington delivered a robust performance': Steel company faced challenging market
Structural steel company Billington Holdings said it delivered a robust performance in 2025 against the backdrop of challenging market conditions and pricing pressures.
During 2025, the group’s revenue reduced by 15.4 per cent to £95.7m, despite a 4.2 per cent increase in productive hours, which it said reflected a focus on more complex projects with reduced steel content.
Pricing pressure "combined with client led contract slippage” was experienced during the year in many parts of the group, leading to underlying profit before tax reducing to £4.1m from £10.8m the year before.
During the year the group undertook a restructuring of its structural steel operations and decided to close the Yate facility in Bristol, consolidating operations at Billington's Wombwell and Shafton sites in Barnsley.
Ian Lawson, the non-executive chairman, said in a statement to accompany the results: “Following a consultation with the affected employees at Yate, a proportion of them have now transferred to the group's Barnsley facilities and I am pleased to note that over 90 per cent of the employees we unfortunately had to make redundant have now found alternative employment, many with assistance from Billington.”
He continued: “With the ongoing conflict in the Middle East we have experienced heightened price volatility of raw materials and energy prices, driven by uncertainty around supply chains and logistics routes.
"We anticipate that these pressures will persist in the near term, particularly where disruption to established trade corridors or shipping routes continues to impact availability and pricing dynamics. In response, the Group continues to deploy a range of established, short-term and project-specific hedging mechanisms across its principal input costs. These measures are designed to provide a degree of cost certainty and to materially protect margins, while retaining sufficient flexibility to respond to changing market conditions. Alongside this, we maintain disciplined procurement practices and close engagement with our supply chain to manage risk and optimise pricing.
“More broadly, the potential secondary effects of a prolonged period of geopolitical instability, including any adverse impact on the UK macroeconomic environment, inflationary pressures, and levels of consumer and business confidence, remain uncertain.”
Mark Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Billington, commented: "Billington delivered a robust performance in 2025 against the backdrop of very challenging market conditions and with continuing pricing pressure across the sector. Despite this, we maintained strong operational output, protected margins and secured a number of technically demanding, higher-value contracts that provide good visibility into 2026.
"The consolidation of our structural steel operations in Barnsley, alongside continued investment in capacity and capability, has improved our cost base and operational efficiency. With a healthy order book, growing pipeline of opportunities and a robust balance sheet, we entered 2026 with increased confidence and expect to deliver an improved financial performance in 2026, in line with market expectations."