Update: Longcross has entered Administration. Deloitte have been appointed as Administrators and at the time of writing work on site has been suspended while the joint administrators consider the options for the firm. The firm’s engineering divisions are unaffected by the administration and are trading normally.
Updated 17th June 2015
Longcross is a relatively young national contractor with a specialism in design and build construction and a turnover of around £230 million. Formed in the mid 1990s to reflect the industry’s move towards collaborative working, the company puts an emphasis on working in close partnership with clients and suppliers and on a non-adversarial approach.
Based in Ashtead in Surrey, the company has offices in Birmingham, Derbyshire, Exeter, Hartlepool, Oxford, Sheffield and Sidcup. It also opened a new office in London in April 2014.
The group has three core businesses, Longcross Construction, the main contracting arm; LX Engineering, an M&E engineering business and Longross Security, which focuses on security systems contracting. Mark English is group managing director and Gary Earle – one of the three founders- is group operations director. The group employs around 315.
Today, Longcross has a healthy workload in partnering frameworks with a series of blue-chip clients, including the Ministry of Justice and the University of Oxford. Some 70% of the group’s workload is repeat business. The firm aims to reach a turnover of £300 million by 2015.
Financials
For more information on Longross Group go to Companies House and use company ID no. 03375630
A single rogue contract meant Longcross fell into the red in the year to end-March 2014 with a pre-tax loss of £1.25 million compared with a profit of £1.13 million previously, on a turnover which rose to £231.2 million from £216 million. The firm was hit by a £1.2 m costs for remedial works on a project although it is confident it can reclaim this through insurance.
But the firm said underlying trading had been in line with expectations; both its engineering businesses had seen a marked improvement in profits but its construction division continues to face tough markets. After generating a healthy cash flow of £4.8 million during the year, (compared with a decrease of £1.4 million previously) the latest accounts show the group had net funds of £780,000 as at March 2014. A commercial director, Colin Gush, has been appointed with commercial and contractual expertise.
Services
Longcross Construction's specialisms include design and build and build contracting, management contracting, construction management; traditional construction; roll-out projects; multi-site projects; flexible working; and live environment working.
Key clients of the group include Asda, Department for Work and Pensions, HM Court Service, Lidl, MedicX, Morrison's, Oxford University, Royal Mail, Sainsbury's, Targetfollow, Tesco and Imperial College NHS Trust.
The company has strong experience across the accommodation, commercial, education, retail and health sectors. It also has a special projects business. T
Today Longcross has a strong order book and has been expanding its workload, particularly outside its core food sector which now accounts for just 35% of turnover. The firm has opened a new central London office and in the West Midlands, a new larger office close to Birmingham Airport.
Major contracts recently won by Longcross include three major design & build office-to-flats schemes worth £48m in Croydon for Criterion Capital which will provide 584 Miflat branded private rental apartments. Work started in late 2014 – with the conversion of Delta Point, a 28,500 sq m BT office building in central Croydon – and will take some 16 months. The work is being carried out by Longcross’ newly-opened London office.
Other recent project wins included a £5 million design and build contract to construct Malt Yard, a complex of flats for PegasusLife in Woodbridge, Suffolk. The firm also won four new projects worth over £10m for works at Oxford University, BUPA Cromwell Hospital, for Wrenbridge and at Gallagher Retail Park in Cheltenham.
Conclusion
Created to take advantage of the industry’s shift towards collaborative working which was ushered in by the Egan Report in the 1990s, Longcross has grown spectacularly from a standing start to become a national contracting business with a turnover approaching £300 million. That said, its latest results show that despite its open book approach, it is not immune to the occasional upset which plague traditional contractors. But the group has a growing reputation and a strong order book – notably in London – together with a series of frameworks and partnerships across its blue chip client list which should ensure it prospers in the long run.
Winning work with Longcross
Developing a high quality chain of suppliers has been a priority for Longcross through collaborative, open relationships. It aims to match sub-contractors to the scope of work, whilst also noting the complexity and value of the work package and a contractor’s existing commitments. The group is a keen supporter of the 'Considerate Constructors' scheme and it recently received the British Land ‘Managing Site Waste Efficiently Award’ as a mark of its green policies.
Longcross Construction uses Constructionline to manage the Stage 1 assessment process on all its subcontract supply chain. As a minimum, all suppliers need to accredited with Constructionline and to hold membership with an SSIP Scheme (eg Acclaim, CHAS, Safecontractor etc). A registration form is available on the company’s website for companies interested in working with Longcross Construction http://www.constructionline.co.uk/static/LongcrossEOI.html
Key contacts
Chris Miles – Operations Director
01372 221240
Lee Wareham – Construction Director
01372 221240