Stuck in the middle: it’s a hard life for medium-sized contractors | Features

State of play the most recent results from mid-sized contractors
Company	Turnover £000s	Pre-tax profit £000s	Date	Strengths	Weaknesses
Renew	390,557	6,742	Sep-08	Has expertise in specialist engineering, which it is building up further	Operates nationally, therefore competes with large contractors in some regions
Styles & Wood	243,148	-949	Dec-08	Is beginning to pick up public sector work	Over-reliance on retail fit-out market
John Sisk & Son	226,391	2,565	Dec-08	Has joint venture with Corus to win hotel jobs	Operates nationally
North Midland Construction	202,215	2,875	Dec-08	Has cut costs by 12.5% through redundancies and reducing overheads	Civils division heavily exposed to water companies, which have been postponing work
Henry Boot	193,679	19,273	Dec-08	Has diversified into multiple businesses, including plant hire and property	Operates in areas where large contractors compete
Bullock Construction	180,706	6,542	Sep-08	Focuses on niche regions, including east and west Midlands and south Wales	Heavy reliance on social housing
Headcrown Group	162,388	4,899	Sep-08	Specialises in high-rise, has large reserves of cash	One division, Finnegan, is competing nationally with large contractors
Havelock Europa	137,577	7,675	Dec-08	Specialises in education	Lost money on the sale of its Showcard Display business