{"id":537406,"date":"2026-02-03T12:45:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T12:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=537406"},"modified":"2026-02-03T11:59:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T11:59:41","slug":"mclaren-joins-1bn-contractor-club-as-pre-tax-profit-nearly-doubles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/financial\/mclaren-joins-1bn-contractor-club-as-pre-tax-profit-nearly-doubles-03-02-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"McLaren joins \u00a31bn contractor club as pre-tax profit nearly doubles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tier one contractor McLaren Construction\u2019s annual turnover has exceeded \u00a31bn for the first time and pre-tax profit almost doubled, as it eyes further growth to mark its 25th<\/sup> birthday this year.<\/p>\n

The firm hired more staff last year and is pursuing opportunities in the healthcare and data centre sectors, but has voiced caution about the life sciences market.<\/p>\n

The London-based contractor reported turnover of \u00a31.12bn in the year to 31 July 2025 \u2013 up 21 per cent from the previous year<\/a>, according to its latest audited accounts.<\/p>\n

The turnover figure accurately reflected group chief executive Paul Heather\u2019s prediction of \u00a31.1bn that he made last year.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Construction News <\/em>shortly before the audited results were released, chairman Kevin Taylor said the firm was \u201con target\u201d to post turnover of \u00a31.25bn in its next set of results.<\/p>\n

The firm is now on 24 frameworks \u2013 two more than last year \u2013 as diversification into the public sector contributed \u00a3250m to group turnover.<\/p>\n

Taylor said he had his \u201cfingers crossed\u201d that the firm can win work on the \u201cexciting\u201d NHS New Hospital Programme (NHP), where it is one of 16 shortlisted bidders for up to 11 slots on a \u00a337bn framework<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the contractor said it was not actively targeting life sciences jobs.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, Heather said that the sector overlaps with McLaren\u2019s existing capabilities, but he also said: \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen a pipeline that we thought we would see. It\u2019s certainly not in the place that we hoped.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThat said, if we\u2019re invited to tender, we would be interested.\u201d<\/p>\n

New business<\/h3>\n

McLaren was ranked 25th in last year\u2019s CN100 table of top contractors<\/a>, but the latest performance would have seen it shoot up to 18th place.<\/p>\n

The accounts said McLaren was engaged in more than 81 active projects last year \u2013 including eight in the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

Of the overall total, 21 were in negotiation, 31 were live on site and 29 were completed by the end of the financial year.<\/p>\n

Prominent new business wins in the year included a \u00a3280m Cardiff arena and hotel job<\/a> (pictured) with close involvement from its Construction Management & Specialist Projects division, which was set up last August to target large-scale real estate and public sector projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve already been wearing out their shoe leather in terms of knocking on doors and just explaining our construction management capability,\u201d said Heather.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something we\u2019re going to push hard with, and we think we\u2019ve got the right expertise in the business to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apart from the Cardiff job, early construction management successes include a role in an unnamed energy project in England, he added.<\/p>\n

Taylor said \u201crepeat customers that have the faith and give us work\u201d represented the bedrock of McLaren\u2019s revenue.<\/p>\n

Heather added that repeat business accounted for \u201c75 to 80 per cent\u201d of overall group turnover.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe treat all of the projects in the same way, and they\u2019re given the same gravitas that they all deserve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019ve got that amount of repeat customers. Because we\u2019re not in it for the one-offs, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pre-tax profit surged from \u00a311.9m to \u00a321m, as the firm\u2019s margin broadened from 1.3 per cent to 1.9 per cent.<\/p>\n

The improved result translated into a higher return on capital employed of 20.4 per cent, compared with 12.2 per cent the year before.<\/p>\n

Profit was 10 times higher than 2022\u2019s figure of \u00a32m, when McLaren returned to the black after two consecutive loss-making years during the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n

The accounts said the combined London and South business continued to \u201cmaximise market opportunities\u201d, while the Midlands and North unit maintained momentum in industrial, logistics and public sector work.<\/p>\n

Heather highlighted ongoing work by the Yorkshire and North East division, formed in the 2023\/24 financial year, on the York Central regeneration scheme with sister firm McLaren Property.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019’ve got a nice, small, lean team there, picking up some nice projects,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re still in PCSAs [preconstruction services agreements] on a number of schemes, so we\u2019ve not converted anything [yet]. But for the trading year we\u2019re in now, they\u2019ve picked up two or three PCSAs that they\u2019re working through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strengthened balance sheet<\/h3>\n

The balance sheet strengthened during the year, with cash at bank and in hand rising to \u00a380.9m, up from \u00a367.3m.<\/p>\n

The group reported no external bank borrowings. But despite its stronger liquidity, Heather said acquisitions \u201care not high on the agenda\u201d.<\/p>\n

The strategic report stated that McLaren had invested more than \u00a32.5m during the year in \u201cenhanced business systems, governance and risk management, technical and specialist resource and digital delivery systems\u201d.<\/p>\n

It said this investment was intended to \u201csupport diversification into growing sectors such as health, defence, data centres and education, while meeting evolving customer expectations and regulatory requirements\u201d.<\/p>\n

Technology investments have enabled McLaren\u2019s staff to spend less time tied up with administrative paperwork and more time \u201cout on the park enjoying their job\u201d, said Heather.<\/p>\n

Headcount rose from 912 to 1,082 employees, mainly due to recruiting 150 more site managers and senior managers.<\/p>\n

The hiring spree contributed to a 25 per cent hike in the firm\u2019s annual wage bill from \u00a374.8m to \u00a392.6m.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, the strategic report said turnover was \u201cexpected to increase further into 2026\u201d as PCSAs converted into main contracts.<\/p>\n

Potential examples include a data centre for an unnamed client in east London, where CN <\/em>understands McLaren is already on site under a PCSA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tier one contractor McLaren Construction\u2019s annual turnover has exceeded \u00a31bn for the first time and pre-tax profit almost doubled, as it eyes further growth to mark its 25th birthday this year. The firm hired more staff last year and is pursuing opportunities in the healthcare and data centre sectors, but has voiced caution about the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135716,"featured_media":534868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[552,559],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-537406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial","category-long-reads"],"yoast_head":"\nMcLaren joins \u00a31bn contractor club as pre-tax profit nearly doubles | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tier one contractor McLaren Construction\u2019s annual turnover has exceeded \u00a31bn for the first time and pre-tax profit almost doubled, as it eyes further\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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