Editorial Comment

Willmot Dixon? Wasn’t he a character in Eastenders? Maybe not… that was Willmot Brown wasn’t it?

No, I haven’t gone mad, I’m just trying to inject a little humour (and failing miserably, I know). Willmot Dixon, private contractor and big hitter in the support services arena, decided to merge its five support services businesses this month.

It believes this move will help it double its turnover in around three years time. Not a bad prospect! The company will now trade under the name Inspace, you know, like the film, ‘Lost in Space.’ Okay, I’ll forget the humour. The idea behind this is to create a stronger brand, which will allow the company to secure more money from the banks.

Chairman Rick Willmott said the company would be looking to buy a facilities management operation to strengthen its capability in this area. Inspace already has an order book of £325m and secured a £140m contract with Colchester Council last month.

The month’s news wouldn’t be complete without a bit of wheeler dealing in the stock market. Derek Trotter would be proud, ‘Mange tout my dear Rodders, mange tout!’

Spanish contractor Ferrovial came under the cosh last month when Spanish investors decided to bail out on news that it had purchased UK support services giant Amey. It is reported that Ferrovial shares fell nearly 3 per cent on Madrid’s stock market after news hit of the £81m purchase. Ferrovial decided to buy Amey in order to secure a foothold in the lucrative European PFI marketplace. However, in doing this Ferrovial has inherited Amey’s £190m worth of debts.

Elsewhere, facilities management group Connaught decided against a move from the alternative investment market (AIM) and into the main stock exchange. It blames weaknesses in the equity market.

The decision was announced in Connaught’s half-year results. Chief Executive Mark Tincknell said, ‘It is better to be a big fish in a small pond.’ Connaught’s results showed a pre tax profit up 40 per cent on last year and turnover rose by the same amount from £54.1m to £77m.

And finally, if you thought the whole Wembley stadium fiasco was bad, think again. Bovis Lend Lease, construction manager in charge of the project to build a new Scottish parliament, revealed that it feels, ‘terrifically challenged’ by the project, which is due for completion this November.

This comes after the recent announcement that the project has risen by £37 million. It is estimated the final cost of the new parliament could be around the £375 million figure.

Liberal Democrat MSP Robert Brown said he felt 95 per cent sure the project would be completed by the end of the year. Only time will tell.