Main contractor Lakehouse has reported a second year of strong growth with a 24% increase in turnover and a 48% increase in profit for 2012-2013.
The medium-sized construction and support services provider, whose work focuses mainly on public sector work in London and the south-east, reported group turnover of £190.6m for the year ending September 2013, up from £153.7m the previous year. In addition, the group’s profit before tax was £7.1m, up from £4.8m in 2011-2012.
Lakehouse has focused on large long-term and framework contracts, said executive chairman Stuart Black. “Against the context of difficult market conditions and many of our peers finding it very tough, we are very pleased to achieve growth in both turnover and profit. All of our business is predicated on long-term contracts and the results reflect a cumulative securing of framework contracts over the past few years. Within social housing the sustainability agenda has also taken off and we have carried out a lot more retrofit work,” he told CM.
"All of our business is predicated on long-term contracts and the results reflect a cumulative securing of framework contracts over the past few years. Within social housing the sustainability agenda has also taken off and we have carried out a lot more retrofit work."
Stuart Black, Lakehouse
The contractor’s current framework contracts include the London Borough of Camden seven-year Better Homes framework, the Hackney Homes four-year repairs and maintenance framework, the Peabody 10-year Quality Homes framework and the Royal Borough of Greenwich sole contractor construction framework.
However, market conditions are still tough, Black told CM: “It’s still a very competitive environment and we won’t see contractors’ margins expanding considerably. The market for labour and materials costs have been heating up, and with much more work around for the supply chain, their prices are becoming much more competitive.”
Lakehouse employs more than 900 staff and its service offering covers development, construction, regeneration and refurbishment, repairs and maintenance, sustainable energy, gas servicing and maintenance, and fire safety and security systems.
Growth was also driven by the completion of recent strategic acquisitions. In November 2012, the contractor purchased West Sussex-based fire safety and compliance specialist Allied Protection, giving it access to clients including Central & Cecil Housing Trust, Thames Valley Housing and MHS Homes.
The results also reflect three new contract wins through gas servicing, installation and compliance business K&T Heating Services, which it acquired in 2011.
In October 2013, after the close of the last financial year, Lakehouse also acquired East Anglia-based Foster Property Maintenance, a contractor and property services company working in the affordable housing and public property sectors. FPM reported a turnover of £35m and an operating profit of £5.4m for the year ending March 2013 and the acquisition is likely to raise turnover even further next year, said Black: “We expect turnover to exceed £250m after we really reap the rewards from our recent acquisitions, particularly the Foster acquisition. There is another acquisition in the pipeline for 2014, which we expect to announce in a couple of months.”
