Turnover at Laing O’Rourke’s mechanical and electrical (M&E) subsidiary has continued to tumble, although the firm returned to profit in its latest accounts.
Crown House Technologies reported that revenue more than halved from £72.9m to £27.3m for the year to 31 March 2024.
The fall is even steeper than the year before, with the firm reporting turnover of £138.5m in 2021/22.
However, pre-tax profit for the latest financial year totalled £3.1m compared with a £20,000 loss in 2022/23. This delivered a margin of 11.5 per cent in 2023/24.
The firm said 10 contracts generated revenue in the latest financial year, compared with 26 in the previous 12-month period.
Four contracts “individually had an impact of £100,000 or greater on operating profit”, the accounts added, compared with nine in 2022/23.
The firm had no long-term bank loans but reported a £126,000 overdraft, repayable within 12 months. It paid no dividends within the financial year.
Crown House Technologies did not report average monthly headcount, stating instead that its workers are all employed by another Laing O’Rourke subsidiary, Laing O’Rourke Services Ltd.
Ongoing M&E jobs include Laing O’’Rourke projects such as the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, the Future Olympia mixed-use scheme in London, and the new Everton football stadium in Liverpool.
The firm is also providing M&E services for the second phase of the HMP Fosse Way project in Leicestershire, as part of the New Prisons Programme alliance.
Crown House Technologies was bought for £17m by Laing O’Rourke in May 2004. It operates within the tier one contractor’s vertically integrated Specialist Trading Business Group, which includes Expanded, Select Plant Hire, Explore Manufacturing, Vetter and GRCUK.
The firm underwent change at the top in 2023/24, after Cameron Gilmour was appointed business unit leader in June last year. He joined Crown House Technologies from Doosan Babcock where he held various roles, the most recent being vice president of defence and nuclear.
