Ground engineering firm Van Elle has signalled it will be targeting new work in London and the South East.
In its stock market update, released to investors on Thursday last week (22 August), the firm said it will be using the acquisition of Rock & Alluvium in November last year to increase its market share.
The statement from chief executive Mike Cutler said the deal “was completed to provide wider growth opportunities for the group in London and the South East”.
He added: “The integration of Rock & Alluvium has progressed in line with expectations and the business traded profitably in the final quarter of the year.”
The acquisition includes a five-year trading agreement with Galliford Try, expected to generate more than £10m annually from next year.
The report added that the firm had made “excellent progress” in developing closer customer relationships in the energy and water sectors.
Cutler added that from next year “we are confident of delivering at least 5-10 per cent compound annual revenue growth”.
Van Elle has also completed a £50m replacement programme of plant and machinery.
The firm operates three divisions: general piling, specialist piling and rail and ground engineering services. Work covers three UK markets of residential and housing, infrastructure, and regional construction.
The new focus of work was confirmed with the announcement that Van Elle had won a spot as a delivery partner on a building and civils minor works framework programme for Network Rail’s Southern region.
The framework is worth £1.4bn over 10 years and covers Kent, Sussex and Wessex. Framework members include VolkerFitzpatrick, Octavius and AtkinsRéalis.
It has been allocated to reactive, planned maintenance and small renewals projects covering control periods 7 and 8.
The deal covers earthworks and drainage, including slope stability in response to climate change.
Cutler said: “This is an important milestone for Van Elle; we will be involved earlier, with much greater workload visibility. This will enable us to collaborate with other framework partners.”
Investors now have the full-year 2024 accounts which revealed revenue of £139.5m down from £148.7m in 2023. The firm made a pre-tax profit of £5.6m for the year to 30 April 2024, up on the £5.4m in the year before. Net funds are down from £7.5m to £5.5m.
Van Elle was the largest ground engineering firm by turnover in last year’s CN Specialists index.
The stock market report also said that despite the wider challenges, a “strong balance sheet [was] maintained with an undrawn bank facility of up to £11m”.
