Lee Marley Brickwork, which does scaffolding as well as brickwork, saw its turnover rise by a third in 2021 to reach nearly 拢57m, a new high for the company, but profits were down by the same proportion because contract prices were fixed before inflation pushed up costs.
Pre-tax profit in 2021 was 拢1.06m, down from 拢1.56m in 2020. The operating profit margin was down from 4.1% in 2020 to 2.3% in 2021.
Owner-director Lee Marley said: 鈥淲hilst the group recorded record turn over in 2021 of 拢56.88m, a rise of 32% over 2020, it was a difficult year in terms of financial performance. As with most other construction businesses a significant proportion of our work rolled over from 2020 due to delays cause by Covid-19 lockdowns. This, combined with significant inflationary pressures in the second half of the year and the fixed price nature of most construction contracts, left the group鈥檚 margins to be significantly reduced. However, a strong market presence and high levels of management have assisted in mitigating these pressures.鈥�
He is not making that mistake again.
鈥淟ooking forward to 2022, the group has secure a record order book and has also negotiated clauses with clients to ensure that material price increases are mitigated either by forward purchases or price re-negotiation with our clients,鈥� he said.
During 2021 Lee Marley Brickwork, noted for its training programme, reached a peak of 59 apprentices, with 49 brickwork apprentices and 10 scaffolding apprentices.
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