Arup grows UK revenues by nearly 4% to £1.6 billion

30 November 2018 Consultancy.uk

Construction consultancy Arup has announced that its UK revenue has seen growth of 4% in its latest financial year. The firm outpaced the economic growth of the UK as a whole by gaining a number of key contracts including a multi-million pound redevelopment project for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

By the end of March 2018, Arup had generated revenue of £1.56 billion, while operating profits hit £113.2 million, up 57%, on the prior term. This included proceeds from the sale of a building it owned in the west end of London to the Workspace group.

Arup has continued to pick up new contracts over the course of 2018, too. The firm has won a growing number of major contracts to help develop the infrastructure and resources of the UK. Earlier in the year, the firm was drafted in to assist the redevelopment of London’s Euston Station, as well as a much needed revamp of Edinburgh’s aged Waverley Station.

Arup sees annual revenue boosted by nearly 4%

Now, as the firm prepares to modernise Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium, ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in a £70 million overhaul, Arup Chairman Gregory Hodkinson has called the engineering giant’s latest results a “reasonable financial performance that is well aligned to our strategic objectives.”

With revenue having risen by nearly 4%, however, stripping out the disposal of its London building, which generated a profit of nearly £46 million, Arup’s overall operating profit came in at £67.4 million, down 7% year-on-year. This demonstrates challenges which the firm will need to prepare for.

Hodkinson said it would be “remiss of me not to address geopolitical risk including Brexit. As a firm with significant revenue from UK operations we are mindful of the potential macro-economic effects of major policy changes, including our ability to attract the highly skilled people we continue to need.”

This comes after Theresa May confirmed her plans to scrap freedom of movement for EU citizens as part of her proposed withdrawal agreement with the EU. With the deal expected to be defeated by some margin in Parliament, however, what seems likely to prevail instead is a continuing atmosphere of uncertainty, which has already slowed the UK economy drastically – and with it, reduced the growth trajectory of the construction industry.