Ilkley’s NG Bailey triples operating profit to £6m over past year

NG Bailey, the Ilkley-based independent engineering, IT and facilities services group, has tripled its operating profit over the past year (year ending 26th February 2016) to £6m and increased its sales by 12%, to £408m.

The company’s secured order book rose 14% to a record £673m, along with net assets of £116m and cash and investments reaching over £75m.

NG Bailey achieved this strong financial performance throughout this past year due to its diversification strategy.

Over the last four years, the company has aimed to better balance its portfolio of work across services (IT, energy and facilities management), large-scale infrastructure projects and traditional building construction.

During the period, NG Bailey won £500m of new work. This included contracts with Land Securities for its retail portfolio and to help it reduce energy use within a number of its commercial properties.

In addition, NG Bailey was awarded a five-year, £50m+ contract with Fujitsu to support its work to transform the delivery of information and communication technology across the Ministry of Defence and was appointed preferred bidder on a number of schemes, including a joint venture with Balfour Beatty, for EDF’s planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant.

During the year, NG Bailey also delivered a number of other projects, including the SSE Arena in Belfast, and a sustainable, combined heat and power link, the first of its kind in Europe, at Birmingham New Street station.

The growth has been achieved alongside a £2m investment in sectors, such as energy management and smart buildings, and a continued annual investment of £3m in the training and development of its people.

David Hurcomb, chief executive of NG Bailey, said: “Five years ago we embarked on a strategy to diversify our business and achieve an equal split of work across services, infrastructure and building construction. Our operating performance demonstrates that our strategy has worked.

“Our focus now is to retain this split. Given our industry-leading engineering expertise and our focus on exceptional customer service delivery, I believe this is achievable.

“Underpinning our operating performance is our commitment to health and safety. We have an industry-leading health and safety record. Our Accident Incident Rate (AIR) is five times lower than the industry average, and this year we have seen our lowest level of reportable accidents for 30 years.

“Our solid financial position, and our ability to continue to invest in the company, puts us in a good position to weather any economic storm that may arise from the recent Brexit vote.”

Kevin Whiteman, chairman of NG Bailey, added: “This is a strong set of results and we are in a strong financial position, with the resources to continue to selectively invest in growth areas and in our people to provide better returns for shareholders in the longer-term.

“As an independent business we understand that long-term success is about being both a profitable and responsible business, which is why our One Approach sustainability strategy is also core to our continued growth.”