GRS returns to profit

GRS Roadstone Group, originally Galliford Road Stone, has revealed record turnover and a return to profit in its latest accounts.

The Nuneaton-based firm – which trades and transports aggregates and building products, as well as materials for recycling – posted a revenue of £383m for the year ending 31st January 2022, a rise of 28% since the company’s last full-year accounting period back in 2018. (GRS turned over £163m in the seven months to 31^st January 2021 and £435m in the 18 months to 30^th June 2020.)

Despite material shortages, increasing costs and covid-related contract delays, pre-tax profits reached £2.5m in 2021/22 (after a £3m goodwill impairment) up from a loss of £1.7m in the previous seven-month period and a loss of £10m in the 18 months before that.

In the past five years the company’s growth has been bolstered by a series of strategic acquisitions including London groundworks and marine freight business S Walsh & Sons and Cornwall-based secondary aggregates and concrete business Maen Karne. These have enabled GRS to supply secondary aggregates made from Cornish mine waste into London by sea freight. [See our previous report here.]

GRS was formed after a management buy-out from contractor Galliford in 1997, three years before the Galliford-Try merger. Today it handles more than 20 million tonnes of materials a year.

Group chief financial officer Martin Reid said: "These results show we’re in a good, stable position after the impact of the pandemic and the uncertainty of previous years, with the delivery of record revenues and a healthy pre-tax profit. Our performance is a testament to the dedication of our workforce backed by a clear long-term strategy.

“Despite the enormous challenges in availability of materials and haulage, plus escalating costs, we have worked closely with our customers and suppliers to deliver excellent results. We are especially proud of our major involvement in projects like HS2, Crossrail, Thames Tideway, Hinkley Point C and the new A14 in Cambridgeshire.

"Strategic investments we have made in recent years are really starting to pay dividends as well as placing GRS among the most sustainable businesses in our sector – for example greater use of rail and water freight in London, reprocessing of mining spoil as secondary aggregates, the recovery and recycling of construction waste, and the switch to green hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel in the southwest. We have a solid platform to deliver a strong performance in the years ahead."

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