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Clancy maintains strong financial performance despite pandemic

Infrastructure specialist Clancy has posted pre-tax profits of £11.1m, up from £3.5m last year.

Infrastructure specialist Clancy has delivered a strong financial performance for the year ending 28 March 2021 with pre-tax profits of £11.1m, rising from £3.5m in 2020.

The independent contractor, which employs 2,200 people across the UK, has secured a £1bn order book by delivering against a long-term plan that has a strategic focus on water, energy and wider infrastructure markets. 

Turnover for the 12 months to March 2021 for Clancy Group Holdings was £255.2m, a reduction of 14% on the previous year, due to both the planned exit from loss making business and the impact of the pandemic. 

Strong profitability and operating cashflow have enabled Clancy to embark on its largest ever capital investment programme, with £20m invested in plant, equipment and technology to effectively build a resilient and sustainable position for long term growth. 

As a direct employer, Clancy has also maintained its focus on personal development and skills through the year, rolling out its in-house digital learning management system for all training programmes. At the outset of the pandemic, the business introduced a hardship fund to support its staff and the back of the year’s results, all employees received a pay increase and whole-company bonus in July 2021. The year also saw the introduction of a business-wide awards programme – Celebrating Clancy –  to mark exceptional individual, team and project performance.

The company’s results follow the announcement in July of Clancy’s success in securing a new contract with Scottish Water providing repair and maintenance to Scotland’s water and waste water network for up to 12 years. The expanded framework will help to double the size of Clancy’s operations in Scotland. The business was also recently appointed by Northumbrian Water to its capital works and infrastructure construction framework, supporting its growing presence in the north east of England.

Over the twelve months Clancy has made progress towards its ambition to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% from 2020 to 2025 with an 18% reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions. It has also seen a 25% reduction in utility strike rates with the use of technology and training. The company has launched an ‘electric first’ company car policy and is investing in the electrification of its van fleet. 

Another significant achievement within the year was the launch of the Clancy Foundation – a charity to support community projects and organisations in line with Clancy’s mission to make life better for growing families. The Foundation has been established with initial funding of £200,000 for the year, of which a significant proportion has been donated to construction industry charity The Lighthouse Club. Going forward the Foundation’s focus will be on food poverty, youth unemployment and mental health, as well as supporting a variety of causes that resonate directly with Clancy employees through match funding.

Matt Cannon, chief executive at Clancy, said that the business’ focus on its long-term strategy during the pandemic and a major investment in skills, tools and systems provides a platform for future growth that includes targeting more workstreams around major capital programmes.

“The pandemic has had a significant impact, but it has also highlighted the fundamental strength of our business,” said Cannon. “Within a few weeks of the onset of the pandemic our team was predominantly classified as keyworkers and played an essential role in maintaining the country’s infrastructure throughout the pandemic. This set of strong results is testament to their hard work and adaptability.

“Our strong financial performance and increasing profitability ensure that we are well positioned to support our clients to deliver much-needed operational and capital investment in their networks, while also identifying opportunities to grow and build on our core expertise in adjacent infrastructure markets.

“As we reach the half way point for the current financial year the major challenge faced by our sector as a whole is around resource. As an independent business and direct employer, we are continuing to broaden our investment in people – attracting and retaining talent to so that we can fulfil both our ambitions and those of our clients.”

Kevin Clancy, chairman at Clancy, said: “We are a family run business and retain an entrepreneurial spirit which has enabled us to be agile and resilient throughout the challenges of the past year. This has helped us to stay on track to deliver our long-term strategy, with results that reflect our journey over the last three to four years as much as the most recent twelve months. Our model of direct employment and investment in people remains a differentiator at a time when the construction industry as a whole faces significant challenges over the availability of experienced resource.”

If you would like to contact Rob O’Connor about this, or any other story, please email roconnor@infrastructure-intelligence.com.