Last updated 9 January 2023
Eric Wright Group (EWG)
The origins of 1923 date back to the founding in Fleetwood of a construction company called Brown & Jackson, which would eventually become Eric Wright Group. EWG is a family controlled building and civil engineering group operating out of Bamber Bridge in Lancashire, which was founded by Eric Wright who in 2016 completed the transfer of his ownership into a charitable trust, which now runs the business.
With such a different ownership structure, the group tends to operate to an ethos very different to many rivals, even offering a nursery at its headquarters outside Preston. Today, EWG remains a profitable major regional contracting business, working on projects as low as £10,000 to schemes of up to £50 million with a turnover of more than £160 million a year and a workforce of around 700 people.
Financials
Turnover at Eric Wright Group fell back again in 2021 to £163.8 million (2020: £204.6 million) but operating profits continue to recover and rose to £6.8 million (2020: £4.0 million). At a pre-tax level, profits leapt to £15.1 million (2020: £7.9 million) but net assets rose to £78.8 million (2020: £68.9 million).
To view the financials for Eric Wright Group, visit Companies House and use Company ID 02841234.
Operations
The group has grown both organically and through expansion since Eric Wright set up the modern business in 1979. This growth has ranged from buying a mechanical and electrical contracting operation that specialised in water in 2010 and to setting up a small works operation but continues to operate from one office in Bamber Bridge outside Preston.
The construction business works for clients ranging from private commercial developers such as Muse, Manchester Life and Northgate to local and county councils including Burnley and Lancashire. Other clients range from NHS Trusts to housebuilders such as Taylor Wimpey. Eric Wright also works regularly for the group’s own development arm, Maple Grove.
The group is on a number of long-term agreements including the £1.5 billion North West Construction Hub high value framework (Project ID: 22267337) and the £750 million Public Buildings Construction and Infrastructure (PB3) Framework for England (Project ID: 20178652). Construction turnover fell for a second year in a row, dropping to £50.3 million (2020: £74.9 million) but there were loss making contracts were capped off and the result was described as ‘much improved’ though not disclosed (2020: £0.7 million loss).
The civil engineering division works for clients from the Highways Agency to and is on a number of long-term framework agreements including the £1.6 billion Civils & Infrastructure Framework (Project ID: 21270187). Civil engineering turnover fell back to £20.4 million (2020: £28.6 million) and the division slumped into the red, losing £0.3 million before tax (2020: £0.4 million).
Eric Wright also has a specialist water operation working directly for five key clients: United Utilities, Scottish Water, Severn Trent, Yorkshire Water and as a supplier to Costain. In 2019, EWG was appointed to Yorkshire Water’s £1 billion AMP7 framework (Project ID: 17135261). Turnover from water slipped again, dropping to £40.2 million (2020: £46.6 million) but profit before tax rose to £0.7 million (2020: £0.4 million).
Revenue from commercial property development slipped to £12.9 million (2020: £15.2 million) and profit before tax dropped to £1.8 million (2020: £2.2 million), but turnover from residential property development leapt to £15.9 million (2020: £12.1 million) and profit before tax surged to £2.6 million (2020: £1.1 million).
Revenue at the facilities management division firmed to £19.0 million (2020: £18.8 million) but profits fell back to £0.8 million (2020: £0.9 million). The rest of the group’s income comes from commercial property development, property rental and health care.
Glenigan Data
After a slump in the previous year due to the pandemic, orders more than doubled in 2022 to £142.1 million (2020: £66.8 million) and this order book ranked EWG in 55th place in Glenigan’s rankings (2021: 97th).
Glenigan did not record any detailed planning applications for residential schemes by EWG in 2022.
Conclusion: Bouncing back
After falling for two years in a row due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Eric Wright Group came close to dropping out of Glenigan’s ranking of the industry’s top 100 contractors but 2022 brought a change in the group’s fortunes.
The order book returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 as the group took on larger jobs but a gradual shift towards civil engineering reversed. In 2022, 12% of the order book by value was derived in this sector with the balance comprised of building projects (2021: 63% building/37% civil).
After an earlier review, Eric Wright adopted a more selective approach to new work and the size of the average contract won by Eric Wright fell consistently from £9.9 million in 2016, only to edge upwards during the pandemic. This trend continued into 2022, when the size of the average contract won by Eric Wright leapt to £9.5 million (2021: £5.6 million) according to Glenigan.
The North West region continues to provide the bulk of workload with 94% orders by value in 2022 (2021: 96%). The group faces strong competition locally but has grown its market share. In 2016, Eric Wright was ranked fifth in Glenigan’s rankings of the top 10 contractors in the North West only to dropped out of this ranking altogether. In 2022, Eric Wright returned to the North West Top 10 in seventh position.
The operating margin had shrunk below one percent but leapt to 4.2% (2020: 1.9%), as the group trimmed the wage bill. In 2021, the average number of employees was static at 691 people (2020: 696 people) but the wage bill was cut by 4% to £28.1 million (2020: £29.2 million).
A return to growth of the bottom line has been achieved, in part, by drastically reducing exposure to construction and cash at hand and the bank fell back to £11.5 million (2020: £14.9 million).
The group’s ownership structure means that Eric Wright Group can take a different view to profitability than at other contractors. The group’s tight geographical focus, a reputation for valuing its staff and income from property investment to fall back on but with the bubble in the North West construction industry bursting, revenue in this sector looks likely to be affected in the short term.
Civil engineering prospects look stronger and this, allied to the innovative ownership structure and wide variety of interests should protect the group during a tighter period for the wider economy.
Winning Work With Eric Wright Group
Eric Wright Group (EWG) is a member of a number of industry bodies, including Considerate Constructor, Lancashire Business Environment Association, British Safety Council and the Association for Project Safety. EWG is fully accredited to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. An integrated management system is operated across the whole group, which manages, assesses and validates its directly employed supply chain in a similar way.
EWG subcontracts out 80% of its work and many of EWG’s subcontractors have long-standing relationships with the group, which also has a large number of directly employed staff that constitutes around half the workforce. To contact potential supply chain partners, EWG has attended Meet The Buyer style events in the past, such as the Rise Business Week staged by Lancashire Chamber of Commerce. Details on the group’s supply chain policies can be found here.
Key Eric Wright Group procurement contacts include:
Group purchasing manager – Alisa Mason, tel: 01772-698822
Managing Estimator – Martin Morrow, tel: 01772-698822
Civils Estimator – Graeme Jones, tel: 01772-698822