Top year for McBains

The firm claims to have achieved the growth on a rise in turnover of 10% for the year.

The multidisciplinary consultant has made clear it is on the acquisition trail and was linked with a bid for troubled QS Currie & Brown.

Last year McBains Cooper hit turnover of £11m and a pre-tax profit of £587,000. The figures for 2006 are due to be confirmed when McBains reports in November.

Chief executive Michael Thirkettle said: “This is our best year so far. It underpins our confidence and desire to grow.”

He added he would aim for more modest growth in 2006-2007: an increase in turnover of 15% and margin growth of 20%.

McBains Cooper employs around 135 fee earners, 25 to 30 in-house administrative staff, plus a number of external consultants.

This is our best year so far. It underpins our confidence and desire to grow

Michael Thirkettle, chief executive, McBains Cooper

In 2004 McBains Cooper’s turnover was £11.5m and profit was £352,000.

As well as planning several acquisitions, Thirkettle is also poised to take a stake in a PFI scheme, on which his firm is already providing multidisciplinary services.

Thirkettle said: “We are just discussing with them now how we might convert our fees into an equity stake. It would be about putting our money where our mouth is.”

McBains has just reached financial close on a £30m headquarters building for Kent Police. The firm is providing cost management, planning supervision architecture, interior design and services engineering to the project.

The building will service the Gravesham-Ebbsfleet community in the Thames Gateway. The four-storey 10,000m² structure will be built, maintained and financed under a 30-year PFI deal. The consortium behind the project is Justice Support Services (North Kent) comprising Reliance Secure Task Management, Bank of Scotland Corporate and Kier Group.

Construction by Kier South East is scheduled to start later this autumn and is programmed for 21 months. The building will feature offices, training facilities and cells. It will centre on a dramatic core, ‘The Street’, with a staff restaurant and breakout areas. The design includes a geothermal solution never before used on a commercial development in the UK, McBains said. It involves a closed loop system integrated within the building piles, which should make savings compared to a standard geothermal application.