Last updated 6 February 2023
William Hare
Formally incorporated in 1945, William Hare, manufacturing, erecting and exporting structural steel solutions across the UK, where the group is the second largest structural steel provider. William Hare also operates in 50 countries across the globe Africa, the Middle East and Asia, turns over £240 million a year and employs around 1,800 people.
Financials
After a fall in the previous year during due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, revenue rebounded in 2021 to £239.5 million (2020: £191.7 million) but the group slumped into the red for the first time in nearly a decade.
At an operating level, William Hare lost £2.1 million (2020: £2.5 million profit). Before tax level, the deficit was £2.2 million (2020: £2.4 million profit).
To view the financials for William Hare Group Ltd and Subsidiaries, visit Companies House and use Company ID 02616280.
Operations
William Hare supplies structural steel solutions in the commercial, power, industry & transport, mining & metal processing, oil & gas, petrochemical, retail, nuclear, infrastructure and sports, leisure & arts sectors. The group works for a wide range of leading contractors, including Multiplex Europe, Canary Wharf, Mace and Skanska and engineering groups such as Alstom.
William Hare operates in the UK, Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia and can finance projects up to £50 million. In the UK, the group works out of a headquarters at Bury in Lancashire and has offices in Derby, Grantham, London, Newport in Wales, Rotherham, Scarborough, Wetherby.
The group has structural steel fabrication plants at Bury in Lancashire and Scarborough in Yorkshire. Both factories operate from the same configuration. In Scarborough, William Hare operates a high volume steelwork factory including an intumescent paint plant. Other UK subsidiaries include Cellbeam, which is based in Wetherby and is a licensed manufacturer of FABSEC. This business turns over £13 million a year and offers solutions in the design, fabrication and supply of long span steel beams, with cellular or bespoke web openings, and annually manufactures more than 40,000 tonnes of steel.
Cellshield, which manufactures safety barrier systems, also operates out of Wetherby. The group also has the rights to supply and install metal decking products Holorib, Ribdeck and Superib, and owns Richard Lees Decking.
As the economy improved after the 2008/9 downturn, William Hare became more acquisitive and 2013 acquired structural flooring supplier Manchester-based Richard Lees. In 2015 the group stepped in to save Eiffel Steelworks after the Wigan-based manufacturer had run up millions of pounds-worth of losses. This business, which was owned by French Group Eiffage, primarily operated as a manufacturer for William Hare and the UK’s number one steelwork contractor Severfield Rowen, but was also working independently as a sub-contractor. The move saved 60 jobs and the business was integrated into William Hare’s existing operations in Lancashire and Yorkshire.
Outside of the UK, William Hare also runs the EMDAD Steel business, which is based out of Abu Dhabi and mainly supplies steel structure fabricators for oil, gas and the utilities sectors in the region.
Glenigan Data
Glenigan’s data shows that major schemes with William Hare attached range from the to the £280 million 1-2 Broadgate office and commercial scheme in London’s Tower Hamlets (Project ID: 18254546) to the £379 million 8 Bishopsgate commercial scheme in the City of London (Project ID: 13347561).
Conclusion: Greater UK focus?
William Hare and Severfield Rowen traditionally dominate the structural steel sector. The group sought to grow market share through acquisitions and prior to the pandemic, this worked but reduced demand for structural steel in 2019 had been behind a fall in group turnover.
In February 2020, William Hare announced plans to invest £10 million at its site in Risca, Caerphilly, aided by investment of £350,000 from the Welsh Government. This is expected to create 100 jobs and the management said they will continue to with ‘carefully evaluated investment’.
However, the group also reduced the workforce in 2020 by 4% although most of the cuts came from operations outside the United Kingdom. In 2021, the workforce was trimmed slightly to an average of 1,761 people (2020: 1,781), again due to cuts overseas and the UK workforce rose to an average of 787 people (2020: 748 people) and the overall wage bill still rose to £54.7 million (2020: £49.9 million). These cuts helped push the wage bill down by 4.5% to £49.9 million (2019: £52.3 million).
The group has historically been involved with a number of major projects in London, such as Battersea Power Station, and before that the £450 million Bishopsgate scheme (Project ID: 06059627). A number of major commercial schemes in London with William Hare attached are also progressing in 2022, including 1-2 Broadgate, 8 Bishopsgate and the £250 million 22 Ropemaker mixed development in Islington (Project ID: 17099455).
In 2023, the year started with British Steel pushing up the price of structural steel by £75 per tonne. This was the first significant rise in steel prices since September, when prices were increased by £250 a tonne in two hikes over a matter of weeks. This will have an impact on profit margins, which slumped at an EBITDA level to 0.8% (2020: 3.6%).
In 2021, net assets slipped to £53.6 million (2020: £55.2 million) and cash at the bank and in hand dropped to £18.9 million (2020: £24.3 million). With no presence in Africa, the focus appears to be stronger in the UK, where major schemes starting should improve the group’s cashflow.
Winning work with William Hare
William Hare has a developed global supply chain which supports successful project delivery and execution worldwide. Preferred supplier agreements are in place for steel, bolts, paint and other major bought in items.
The group is a member of the British Construction Steelwork Association and accredited in quality management to ISO 9001:2000 and in environmental management to ISO 14001. William Hare is also accredited to Achilles and received the Building Confidence Certificate of Accreditation standard after successfully completing a two-day on-site audit. Software used by the group ranges from StruM.I.S software across its global operations, Tekla”s BIM software to develop client designs and AceCad”s BIM solution to manage supply chain content to its construction site. As a result, William Hare has been certified to BIM Level 2.
The group also has BES 6001 accreditation for responsible sourcing. Details on the group”s supply chain policies can be found here.
Key William Hare procurement contacts include:
UK Business development director – Craig Arnold
Tel: 0161-609-0000
UK Senior estimator – Andrew Clough
Tel: 0161-609-0000