J Coffey passes £200m turnover milestone

Profitibility also improved with pre-tax profit rising to £6.5m in the year to September 2023 from £4.6m previously.

But while margins edged up to 3.4%, it remained below the pre-pandemic average performance of around 7%.

The business, which mainly specialises in substructure, superstructure and structural alterations, underwent an MBO three years ago, with the founder James Coffey staying on as chairman.

Trading since 1991, the J Coffey Group employs around 262 staff, and now operates under seven divisions covering subcontracting, main contracting on jobs up to £25m, rail and infrastructure and European data centres.

Most recently under the new senior management team, Coffey also set up a Fire Protection Division, identifying an opportunity to offer specialised passive fire protection services to clients.

Group managing director Eddie Barrett said: “The works undertaken by the group have been historically delivered under fixed price contracts.

“The inflationary pressures being experienced by the construction industry has resulted in continued spikes in the cost of labour and materials resulting in some projects delivering a lower than expected margin.

“The company’s future order book and pipeline remain strong as the business focuses on continuing to work with both new and long-established clients.

“In addition, to ensure the business has a diversified and secure revenue generation, over the past year we have prioritised the growth of the infrastructure, data centre and structural alterations elements of business.”

Improved trading saw cash at bank double to nearly £12m, giving the firm a net cash position at the year end.