Industrial contractor TSL Group saw its revenue drop by £116m – equivalent to 21 per cent – in 2023.
The Buckinghamshire-headquartered company was the UK’s 35th biggest contractor last year according to the CN100, but is likely to slip down the table after turning over £436.1m in the year to 31 December 2023 – a sharp drop from £552.2m in 2022 and £565m in 2021.
The group’s decreased workload was most stark in the UK, where its revenue fell by 35 per cent from £455.4m to £297.6m. TSL meanwhile saw its work in Europe increase in value from £96.8m to £139,400, according to company accounts published on Wednesday (7 August).
Despite the turnover drop, TSL – which specialises in the food, pharmaceutical, logistics and data centre sectors – saw its pre-tax profit increase by almost half to £14.3m from £9.7m. The group’s pre-tax profit margin therefore increased from 1.8 to 3.3 per cent.
The group saw its average number of employees increase from 217 to 231 last year, while the group’s cash at bank grew from £39.8m to £52.6m.
In an executive report accompanying the accounts, TSL director and co-founder Jackie Wild said the group’s results “show a strong and resilient performance” during “a challenging year for the construction sector, with many high-profile insolvencies”.
Wild hailed the group’s “strategic decisions to focus on securing projects which could deliver sustainable levels of contribution, enabling us to improve gross profit margin”, adding that fixed-price contracts signed with suppliers helped manage inflation risk.
TSL has “continued to deliver its overseas presence in line with the business plan”, Wild added, with projects in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain. The group has also set up an office in Poland and is “actively seeking project opportunities” across the country.
“TSL’s presence and partnership with key international clients, aligned through our shared growth trajectories, should pave a strong path for TSL’s continued sustainable growth into 2024 and beyond,” Wild added.
