SPECIAL FOCUS NEWS
Contractors’ Corner T
he UK’s 30 top contractors enjoyed collective growth of 23% last year despite a period of “considerable economic turmoil”, according to the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA). The latest edition of the Association’s annual
Top 30 Contractors’ report, which focuses on the largest mechanical and electrical (m&e) contractors, is compiled in partnership with chartered quantity surveyors GHCS, technical recruitment fi rm GH Engage, and industry analysts Barbour ABI. The report shows that the combined turnover of the 30 fi rms grew to £6.4 billion in 2023/24. This represents approximately a quarter of the total m&e market, which is estimated at £23.2bn, “suggesting room for further consolidation in what is still a highly fragmented sector,” BESA said. The report, which ranks contractors by their total
turnover for the previous fi nancial year, is compiled using published company accounts and information from Companies House. It showed that fi rms were well-positioned to withstand “various fi nancial headwinds” and were poised for further growth in 2025. “The overall mood is surprisingly buoyant,” said
BESA’s chief executive offi cer, David Frise. “Judging from the comments made in our report by company directors and senior business fi gures, the outlook is generally optimistic despite the considerable
1 st
fi nancial, technical and regulatory hurdles they are having to navigate.”
He added that, while the long-term impact of the global market turmoil unleashed by Donald Trump’s tariff s remained uncertain, the best-performing m&e engineering businesses covered in the BESA report were “remaining calm in the face of this latest ‘bump in the road’”.
Top contractors still optimistic despite economic ‘turmoil’ Several companies told BESA’s researchers
that they were now operating outside ‘traditional’ m&e sector boundaries and fi nding specialist markets that placed a greater value on high-quality engineering services and are less vulnerable to short-term fi nancial shocks.
The fact that the UK has also become something
of a ‘services superpower’ also helped to insulate it from the full impact of US tariff s, which were primarily aimed at trade surpluses in manufactured goods, the report found. The BESA report found that not only are these sectors continuing to build with confi dence, but they are also heavily reliant on high-value M&E engineering to provide clean rooms, resilient cooling systems, and water and energy effi ciency, among other benefi ts. In many such facilities, the services account for upwards of 60% of the overall project’s value, and in a growing number, the m&e provider is assuming the role of lead contractor. While mainstream construction has been severely impacted by delayed investment and rising costs, not helped by April’s increase in employers’ National Insurance deductions, parts of the sector are fi nding ways to operate outside traditional boundaries and secure higher-margin work, the report found.
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