Roofing Today TOP 30 UK Roofing Contractors 2018

Roofing Today is delighted to announce the Top 30 UK Roofing Contractors, in 2018’s first published snapshot of the roofing contractor sector, listed according to financial performance. Data is provided by Plimsoll Publishing, experts in business performance and industry analysis.

Read editor at Roofing Today, Dr Claire Griffiths’ commentary below.

COMMENTARY

Dr Claire Griffiths, Editor at Roofing Today

“Roofing Today’s Top 30 Roofing Contractors are ranked according to their turnovers, which we think is a fairer choice than profit, which can be skewed in a particular financial year by ‘extra-curricular’ investments, bond payments or changes in structure or director’s shareholdings.

“The collective turnover of our Top 30 contractors is slightly over three-quarters of a billion, at just shy of £760,000,000 – a sizeable share of this year’s estimated total £5bn roofing activities market – particularly considering that 93% of all 8,620 UK roofing contractor firms are micro-businesses. The average turnover of our Top 30 is £25 million.

Pre-Tax Profit
“In terms of profit, there’s some stand out businesses – first and foremost being M&J Group, with a pre-tax profit of over £5million and a whopping 24% rise on its previous year. Not far behind is Acclaim Contracts and Avonside Roofing – although if we combined the latter with all operations in the Avonside Group, it would no doubt lead the field.

“Profit margins are notoriously tight across construction and many contractors are regularly forced to factor into their margins the costs of snagging, retentions and late payments, at the risk of falling foul of these costs. The atypical highest margin operators somewhat distort the general picture of our Top 30, half of whom operate at 5% or below, while the average across the board hovers at 7% – also reflecting those businesses whose activities include non-contracting work.

“Roofing Today’s Top 30 contractor employees number just 2,528 – a fraction of the 29,676 workers in the roofing sector, many of whom are subcontracted rather than employed. Sales per employee figures range from £120,000 to over a million, at £1,128,200.

“Movement on year-on-year profits and margins is indicated by the green up and red down arrows and – thankfully for UK roofing in 2018 – most are green.

“With a flat-lining forecast for next year illustrating worries about Brexit, the post-Grenfell impact, and skills shortages, it’s a cautious industry embarking on the next 12 months, set to make interesting reading in our next Top 30 in 2019!”

>>Read the latest 2019 30 Under 30 report here