Willmott Dixon is aiming to build a £1.5bn construction business, with defence and healthcare expected to spearhead expansion from a turnover base of £1.03bn last year. The contractor said it had secured £747m of new work by the end of July—nearly £750m—of which 89% was under main contract. That, it said, provides secure and visible revenue for 2027 and beyond.
Chief executive Graham Dundas said the priority for the year had been converting a record level of preconstruction appointments into main contracts. He attributed the £747m haul to that conversion effort and said the proportion held under main contract gave the business greater certainty as it looks beyond 2027.
Profit rises as revenue edges lower
Group pre-tax profit climbed 15% to £11.5m in the six months to June, despite revenue edging down to £545m from £548m. Willmott Dixon said major starts had taken time to come through. The group now has a £1.37bn secured order book and more than £3.5bn of identified workload, taking its total pipeline to around £5bn.
The order book and pipeline figures sit alongside the new-work total and give a broader view of the work Willmott Dixon expects to pursue or deliver. The company is targeting growth from 2027, after a period in which it has focused on converting early-stage appointments into contracted work. The £1.5bn target compares with £1.03bn of turnover last year.
Education leads project wins
Education delivered the biggest wins. They included the £93m College of North West London campus at Wembley and the £58m Mosslands secondary school. Other jobs in the secured workload include £28m of affordable homes at Princes Gate in Oldham for Muse, Portsmouth’s £22m Bransbury Park Leisure Centre and the £16m Bath Fire Station.
Frameworks remain the main engine of orders, generating around 90% of new work. That concentration underlines the importance of long-running framework agreements to the contractor’s pipeline, alongside individual project wins such as the education and leisure schemes.
Cash position and development arm
The group strengthened its cash position to £127m, with no debt and record shareholders’ funds of £190m. Its relaunched Willmott Dixon Developments arm is also seeking growth through public sector regeneration partnerships. Most recently it secured the £100m Baytree Shopping Centre scheme in Brentwood with Milligan.
Cost pressure persists
Dundas warned that cost pressures were still squeezing customers and suppliers. He said global conflicts continued to push up energy, fuel and material costs, and that customers and supply-chain partners were feeling the pressure. When customers choose who to work with, he argued, financial resilience and a proven delivery record matter more than ever.