Accounts filed for Gateshead-based Meldrum 91黑料网 Services show 2024 to have been a year of consolidation for the employee-owned contractor.
Turnover stayed flat at 拢54.3m (2023: 拢54.9m) but strong margins saw operating profit jump from 拢1.9m to 拢2.4m, while overall profit for the year was 拢1.86m, up from 拢1.59m.
鈥淭he Meldrum group of companies performed strongly again during 2024, representing the year of consolidation and preparation for the next phase of growth that we had planned, 鈥� said founder and chief executive Dave Meldrum.
Meldrum is headquartered in Gateshead and has offices in Cambridge and Teesside. Its divisions offer construction, civil engineering, facilities management and building services. It also has a new fire engineering business. Ownership transitioned to an employee owned trust last year.
In the accounts report, Dave Meldrum writes: 鈥淒etailed business plans and a continued recruitment strategy allowed us to prepare for an anticipated increase in volume through the latter half of 2025 and well into 2026. This anticipated increase has already been seen to be turning into a reality with the group securing several contracts and signing up to a number of large value PCSAs (pre-construction services agreements) guaranteeing the predicted growth through to the end of 2026.
鈥淎t the same time, business development initiatives continue to provide positive results with the growth in our pipeline of opportunities to 拢500m, and circa 拢120m in value for projects which are down to final stage negotiations alone.
鈥�2024 had challenges across the whole construction industry, skilled labour shortages continued across several disciplines, which continued to place inflationary demands on wages as companies competed for a smaller pool of available candidates.
鈥淭he group continued working on initiatives to focus further on staff training and development, flexibility, and welfare as well as enhanced remuneration packages to aid with both retention and recruitment.
鈥淐ontinued success in this area has been proven, with staff numbers being maintained above the 220 number, and for 2025 we look forward to a year with a stable and motivated workforce.鈥�
Looking ahead, Meldrum warned that 鈥渨ith the change of government in the year have become evident which has led to a noticeable 鈥榮low down鈥� in decision making due to uncertainty on policy going forward and the tightening of spend across any projects requiring local or national authority support鈥�.
After the accounts were published, he added: 鈥�2024 was largely in line with what we anticipated, despite economic challenges. Although turnover remained relatively flat, we increased the profitability of gross margin to 15.1%. Driving efficiency and performance as well as succession planning, were a key focus for 2024 and remain so for 2025 as we look to build strong foundations for the new era of the employee-owned trust. The performance allows us to maintain and improve our investment within the business as we continue our focus on sustainable growth.鈥�
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