Management says increase puts it on course to be £1bn company by 2012

Contractor and construction management specialist Mace has defied the deepening economic gloom to report a 17.2% increase in turnover for 2010.

The company, which is building the Shard, this week announced results revealing turnover up to £851m, which it claims puts it on track to reach its target of £1bn turnover in 2012. Profit before tax increased by 9% over the year to £21m.

Stephen Pycroft, chairman and chief executive, said: “Mace continues to grow and demonstrate our resilience despite the continued challenging market conditions in construction and consultancy. With project wins in 2011 such as the TfL cable car for London, Heart of East Greenwich and ITV Media City we have built a strong platform for future growth underpinned by the quality of our employees and creativity of our offer to clients across the property and infrastructure lifecycle.”

The firm’s construction delivery arm was responsible for 76% of its turnover, despite adverse market conditions across the sector. It said the move will allow it to successfully deliver its five year plan to grow the business’s turnover by over 50% by 2015.

Despite an increase in turnover, Mace ended 2010 with fewer staff than at the close of 2009, reducing its workforce from 2929 employees to 2902. Business on the consultancy side remained steady,contributing £204.3m in revenue.However, Mace said it was hit by the economic downturn affecting Spain and Portugal, reducing available workload. Political upheaval in Libya, Syria, Egypt and Bahrain led to trading difficulties in those regions, and turnover across the Middle East and Africa dropped from £44.6m in 2009 to £44.1m in December 2010.

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