Full year accounts published for the year ending 31st December 2021 show pre-tax profits of £4.2m for EW Beard Ltd on turnover of £144m.

Turnover in 2021 was 6% up on 2020’s £136m but still 9% down on 2019’s £158.5m.

Similarly, pre-tax profit was up 20% on 2020’s £3.5m but down 6% on 2019’s £4.45m.

Beard finance director Fraser Johns credited the company’s record of enlightened supply chain management for getting the business through a year of shortages.

“As a responsible business, Beard has always treated our suppliers and contractors fairly and has paid promptly for materials and work,” he said. “This tradition of doing the right thing, coupled with strong financial controls within the company, meant that Beard was well positioned to cope with the supply chain issues that impacted the construction sector in 2021, and are likely to continue in the coming year.”

Beard, established in 1892, has offices in Swindon, Guildford, Oxford and Bristol. The company undertakes design and build, new build, restoration and refurbishment, and last year completed a total of 59 projects. Highlights included:

• the £20m redevelopment of St Hilda’s College in Oxford
• a new training facility for Bristol City Football Club
• the Archway Project in Bath, comprising a new World Heritage Centre and The Roman Baths Clore Learning Centre
• a six-storey student accommodation block at the former Gaumont Cinema site in Bristol
• a £5m senior school building at Crosfields school in Reading
• the redevelopment of the Quadrangle building in Cheltenham.

Projects that were started last year included restoration of the Cleveland Pools lido in Bath, renovation of the Royal West of England Academy building in Bristol, construction of a new specialist primary school for deaf children in Newbury, and a development of 30 student rooms at the Frewin Annexe of Brasenose College in Oxford.

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