Turnover hits £150m in year of growth at almost 160-year-old construction business
A family-run construction business which dates back to 1867 has reported growth in turnover and profits, with the historic company moving forward with a "solid foundation".
Stepnell turned over £150m in the year to March 2026, up from £112m in 2025, and ahead of its forecasts.
Pre-tax profits rose from £1.046m to £2.8m, while cash in the business improved to £20.8m.
Chief executive Tom Wakeford said: "We are pleased with our significantly improved performance in difficult market conditions, notably the increase in profitability and cash. This provides a solid foundation for the company going forward.
"In the current year, the business is on track to deliver a further 20 per cent increase to our turnover, driven by client demand from the performance of our teams, extending geography, and staying true to careful project selectivity.
"The significantly increased cash position, strong balance sheet, improved trading and a strong pipeline of work ensures the business is positioned well for the coming years.
"Stepnell's significantly improved performance has been delivered by partnering with clients which enable projects to be delivered through honest communications of budgets, timely problem solving and transparent understanding of risk, delivering certainty for all stakeholders."
The company's corporate shareholder demerger was concluded on 30 September last year, resulting in Wakeford and his immediate family now owning 100 per cent of Stepnell Group Limited and its companies.
The business is working with the housing association arm of Bristol City Council and has two projects on site under the Sovereign Housing Association Framework. Its work is continuing in the Isles of Scilly on the £9m refurbishment of the grade II-listed Town Hall in St Mary's.
Stepnell made a significant investment in improving its regional offices. As well as refurbishing and extending its headquarters in Rugby in 2025 - an investment of more than £1.3m - Stepnell moved its Bristol offices to larger premises and it made further improvements to its Southampton office, as well as purchasing the adjacent premises.
Over the following 12 months, Stepnell plans further enhancements to both its Nottingham and Oxford offices to enhance its employee offering. Post year end, in May 2026, Stepnell opened its seventh office in Exeter.
Wakeford added: "Despite uncertain market conditions, the business has shown strong growth. The board has laid the foundations for a planned growth in turnover and profit, through continued project selectivity to secure the projects which better suit the company’s objectives, together with strong delivery on site.
"Key to this improved business performance has been early project involvement and formal engagement. This enables Stepnell to bring strong focus on the critical issues required to make the scheme viable and deliverable.
"We have focussed on developing our teams and they have continued to deliver high quality finished products with improved control and predictability of programme which is being reflected in 75 per cent of our work being repeat business. Continued early client engagement continues to bring a strong pipeline of work.
"We continue to perform well on key frameworks, both nationally and regionally, allowing us to fully implement the Stepnell ethos and collaborate with our clients to identify and solve problems during the pre-construction phase. On these frameworks we deliver excellence in both social value and sustainability delivering what we commit to at the outset of each project.
"We work as a team to deliver value with robust programming across our breadth of operating geography with the right risk balance. We have secured places on targeted frameworks in the North West following the opening of our new office in Liverpool last year and recruited a new regional director for the area, which provides us the opportunity to deliver as well for new clients there as we do elsewhere across our geography."
