Profit league table
How much UK contractors and housebuilders make
Profit before tax and profit margin from each company's latest accounts at Companies House. Thin margins leave little room when a job goes wrong, and losses are one of the warning signs to check before you take on work.
- Companies in the table
- 115
- Middle margin (median)
- 3.9%
- Made a loss
- 16 of 115
Profit before tax as a share of turnover, 115 companies. 16 made a loss.
| Company | Margin |
|---|---|
| Emerson Developments | 28.1% |
| Van Oord UK | 21.3% |
| Bovis Homes | 15.8% |
| Bloor Homes | 14.3% |
| Morgan Lovell PLC | 12.3% |
| Gallagher | 12.3% |
| FP McCann | 11.4% |
| Persimmon | 10.6% |
| M J Church (Plant) | 10.1% |
| QTS Group | 10.0% |
| Toureen Group | 9.8% |
| Neilcott Construction | 9.5% |
| George Leslie | 9.1% |
| Andrew Scott | 8.7% |
| Hill Holdings | 8.4% |
| Overbury PLC | 8.1% |
| J Murphy & Sons Ltd | 8.0% |
| Sacyr UK | 8.0% |
| Colas Rail | 7.7% |
| Bugler Developments | 7.5% |
| Carnell Support Services | 7.2% |
| Willis Construction Ltd | 7.0% |
| P&P Builders | 6.7% |
| LCB Construction | 6.6% |
| Keepmoat Homes | 6.6% |
| Heron Bros. | 6.6% |
| Ocu Group | 6.6% |
| Countryside Properties | 6.4% |
| Lindum Group | 6.3% |
| Keller Group plc | 6.0% |
| Mears Group Plc | 5.6% |
| Bowmer & Kirkland Ltd | 5.6% |
| MJ Gleeson Group | 5.6% |
| Clipfine | 5.4% |
| B E C T Building Contractors Ltd | 5.4% |
| Feltham Construction | 5.1% |
| Henry Brothers | 5.1% |
| Harron Homes | 5.1% |
| F M Conway | 5.0% |
| Springfield Properties | 4.9% |
| Matthew Homes | 4.9% |
| Reds10 (UK) | 4.9% |
| J.N. Bentley | 4.8% |
| Equans | 4.8% |
| Keltbray Group Ltd | 4.8% |
| VolkerWessels UK Ltd | 4.7% |
| Beech Grove Homes | 4.6% |
| Fortel Services | 4.6% |
| Bancon Homes | 4.6% |
| Wain Group | 4.5% |
| Watkin Jones & Sons | 4.4% |
| Strabag UK | 4.3% |
| Crest Nicholson | 4.3% |
| Clancy Docwra | 4.3% |
| Robertson Group | 4.0% |
| Jones Bros | 4.0% |
| Bam Nuttall Ltd | 3.9% |
| Sweet Projects | 3.9% |
| M.V. Kelly | 3.9% |
| Taylor Wimpey | 3.8% |
| Gilbert-Ash | 3.8% |
| Abbey Developments | 3.7% |
| VINCI Construction UK | 3.6% |
| Seddon Group Ltd | 3.6% |
| Balfour Beatty PLC | 3.4% |
| M Group Highways | 3.2% |
| Speller Metcalfe | 3.2% |
| Winvic Group Ltd | 3.0% |
| John Graham Holdings Ltd | 2.9% |
| Laing O'Rourke | 2.9% |
| Willmott Dixon Holdings Ltd | 2.9% |
| Luddon Construction | 2.8% |
| Midgard Ltd | 2.7% |
| Anwyl Group | 2.7% |
| Wynne Construction | 2.7% |
| J. Reddington | 2.5% |
| Encon Construction | 2.5% |
| Barnwood Limited | 2.4% |
| Lovell Partnerships | 2.4% |
| Clark Contracts | 2.1% |
| City & Country | 2.1% |
| Beard Construction | 2.0% |
| Carter Lauren Construction | 2.0% |
| E.g.carter & Company | 1.9% |
| Stepnell | 1.9% |
| Volkerrail | 1.9% |
| Kier Group | 1.9% |
| McLaren Construction Group Plc | 1.9% |
| Tilbury Douglas Construction Ltd | 1.8% |
| T & B (Contractors) | 1.6% |
| 8BUILD | 1.3% |
| Glencar Construction | 1.1% |
| John Sisk & Son Ltd | 1.0% |
| Borras Construction | 0.9% |
| Hercules PLC | 0.7% |
| McLaughlin & Harvey Ltd | 0.6% |
| Tarmac | 0.4% |
| Higgins Group | 0.4% |
| Van Elle | 0.2% |
| Galliford TRY Infrastructure | -0.6% |
| Cala Homes | -1.4% |
| Mulalley & Co | -1.6% |
| Hopkins Homes | -1.7% |
| Weston Group | -2.2% |
| Hale Construction / JG Hale | -2.5% |
| Homeserve Plc | -3.1% |
| London Square | -3.7% |
| Morris Homes | -4.3% |
| Durkan | -5.7% |
| Bewley Homes | -7.8% |
| United Living | -11.0% |
| Allenbuild | -11.2% |
| Farrans | -12.2% |
| Bouygues (U.K.) Ltd | -19.3% |
| Fairview Holdings | -21.2% |
Latest accounts at Companies House. The end bars include every margin below -10% or above 20%.
The middle (median) profit margin in each group.
| Group | Companies | Middle margin | Made a loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main contractors | 87 | 3.9% | 8 |
| Housebuilders and developers | 28 | 4.4% | 8 |
Latest accounts at Companies House.
Why margins matter to subcontractors
Construction runs on thin margins. A contractor making 2% on its turnover has little to absorb a bad job, a dispute or a slow-paying client, and the first place cash pressure shows is often in how quickly it pays its supply chain. Many of the firms in our biggest failures list reported a profit in their last accounts, so a margin is never the whole story: check the company's CR Signals for late filings and going concern warnings too.
The figures come from the accounts each company files at Companies House, read and checked line by line. Accounts made up to before 2024 are left out so the table compares like with like.