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Beard sales hold up despite covid-19
Mark Beard
Beard has reported sales of £72m on the first half of the year, a decline of just 4% on the previous year, despite the challenges of the coronavirus lockdown.
The 128-year-old, family-owned firm also revealed that it
has zero debt on its books, and managed to complete 31 projects over the half
year, including the Swindon Carriage Works and a new training facility for
Premiership Rugby club Bristol Bears.
The company had positive cash flow of £7.9m for the period
ending 30 Jun 2020 and took an average of 26 days to pay invoices.
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The company attributed its strong financial performance to its
strategic approach to operations throughout the pandemic, as it continued to
work on more than 90% of its sites even at the height of the lockdown.
It also fully implemented the Site Operating Procedures
drawn up by the Construction Leadership Council, to ensure that staff and
subcontractors working on Beard sites were not exposed to unnecessary risk of
infection.
Beard implemented additional safety measures including
lengthening the working day and resequencing stages to allow different workers
to be on site at different times, minimising the need for contact.
Meanwhile, the firm has in excess of £100m of work booked
going into 2021.
Beard has focused on its key sectors such as education,
healthcare and heritage this year and has also moved into new sectors such as
care homes. Recent new work wins include the University of Oxford’s
Rhodes House development worth £24m and two developments for Signature Care
Homes across the South East worth £25m.
Beard has also invested in eco-building provider, Green
Unit, which produces stand-alone modular units, built with modern methods of
construction.
Mark Beard, chairman of Beard and president of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), said: “In early July we asked our auditors to conduct an independent review of our financial accounts for the first six months of this year, which they duly did.
“This is the first time in the history of the business that
we’ve carried out this exercise. Pleasingly our results show that our balance
sheet remains very strong and we have a healthy cash position.
“The situation with Covid-19 is unprecedented and
continually evolving. It has never been more difficult to predict the year
ahead. However, we are confident that these results demonstrate our financial
resilience and the long-term sustainability of the business.
“We’ve also been able to keep momentum by winning some
significant contracts such as Rhodes House and the Signature Care Home
developments, thanks to the reputation we’ve built up in those sectors.
“So, we can look ahead to 2021 with a good level of
confidence as we expect to continue winning new work and making further
in-roads into established sectors. But above all we’ll be maintaining our
commitment to excellence and our ambition to make a positive impact on the
communities in which we live and work.”
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