Client login
Password

News & Media > Other Stories

21:12:2009

2009: an award-winning, record-breaking year

Set against a back drop of recession and a challenging business climate, 2009 turned out to be another very successful year for May Gurney.

In this special feature length article we take a quick look at some of the highlights of the past 12 months.

A work-winning year
As a result of new contracts secured May Gurney is now the UK market leader in highways maintenance, a growing force in recycling and environmental services and a new but significant player in the local education partnership market.

Key public sector contracts awarded to May Gurney in 2009 include:
• A 10-year, £350m highways maintenance contract with Lincolnshire County Council;
• A 10-year, £91m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) contract with North Lincolnshire Council;
• A 14-year, £85m waste and recycling contract with North Somerset Council;
• A 7-year, £75m waste and recycling contract with Bridgend County Borough Council;
• A £30m highways maintenance contract extension with Essex County Council;
• A £16m highways maintenance contract expansion (to cover Norwich) with Norfolk County Council;
• And a 4-year, £16m waste recycling contract with Essex County Council.

We’ve been equally busy in the regulated sector, strengthening our partnerships with several utility companies and Network Rail, and becoming a very significant player in the waterways maintenance sector.

Key regulated sector contracts awarded to May Gurney in 2009 include:
• A new four-year, £80m canal and river maintenance contract with British Waterways;
• A £20-25m per annum rail structures maintenance contract extension (until 2012) and expansion awarded by Network Rail;
• And a number of contract extensions and projects awarded by water companies including Thames Water, Essex & Suffolk Water and Severn Trent Water in the run up to AMP5.

An award-winning year
In 2009 May Gurney received more than 20 prestigious awards as a result of our employees’ efforts, the excellence of our work, our approach to sustainability and health & safety, and our communications with shareholders.

Highlights include:
• An incredible NINE awards (in 2008/9) for the High Level Bridge project, carried out in partnership with Network Rail;
• A FIFTH successive RoSPA Gold Award for our Health & Safety record;
• Winning the Environmental Leadership category at the 2009 Construction Industry Awards;
• Winning the Waste & Recycling category at the EDIE Awards, for the SORT IT service we deliver in Somerset;
• Two awards (AIM & IR Best Practice Awards) for the way we communicate with shareholders;
• Winning the Environment category at the Severn Trent Water CR Awards;
• Winning the Customer Service category at the Water Industry Achievement Awards;
• Awards for three May Gurney Environmental Services’ employees - Siad Osman, Darren Barker and Jamie Cooper - for the way they serve the public;
• Simon Rickarby’s Pure Service award for our work with South West Water;
• Matthew Meachan being named Operative of the Year at the CITB Awards;
• And Matthew Fortune (Cartledge, street lighting) being named Trainee of the Year at the ASLEC Awards.

A year of solid financial performance
May Gurney’s half-year results for the six months ended 30 September 2009 show solid performance, with record turnover and underlying profits.

Highlights include:
• First half revenues up to £239.1m (£231.6m/2008);
• Profit before tax up by 21% to £8.5m (£7m/2008);
• A strong balance sheet with net cash of £24.8m (£7.7m/2008);
• A well-funded pension scheme;
• A record forward order book of £1.4bn (£1.25bn/2008);
• And potential contract extensions of a further £0.9bn (£0.75bn/2008).

A year of continuous business improvement
At May Gurney we are continually improving what we do and how we do it to deliver unrivalled customer service and great operational performance.

Group-wide initiatives developed to make a difference for May Gurney’s future include:
• Establishing a sustainability policy and pledging to reduce our CO2 emissions by 50%, an increasing priority for our clients;
• Unveiling ambitious plans to put information services at the forefront of the solutions we build for our clients;
• Investing in mobile solutions and web-based database technology to ensure we operate up-to-date and market leading systems to enable collaborative working and frontline delivery.
•Launching and rolling out 'Shared Services' across the Group to bring our people, processes and technology together to provide a more efficient and cost effective service for our internal and external customers.
• Continuing to invest in graduate, trainee and apprenticeship training schemes and management development programmes, to ensure we are all safe, motivated and engaged with our vision.

None of the above could have been achieved without the full support of May Gurney employees, clients and suppliers. A sincere ‘thank you’ from the Board of directors and senior management team to everyone who has helped make 2009 another successful year for May Gurney.