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Top 30 M&E contractors set for growth – ranking

The country’s leading M&E contractors saw revenue rise by nearly a fifth last year driven mainly by cost inflation.

But major firms are predicting a stronger year ahead as data centre work, commercial retrofits, life sciences and lab work starts to fire-up the sector.

The industry’s biggest players are also taking on major contract roles on data centre work as £100m-plus M&E packages hit the market.

During last year, Dalkia leap-frogged NG Bailey to become the industry’s biggest player after a rebrand that consolidated the Imtech, Inviron and SPIE UK brands.

Wates-owned SES, Skanska’s SRW and Gratte Brothers enjoyed strong sales growth lifting the firms up the rankings to now sit just below the big three.

RankingM&E specialistTurnover £
2023202220232022
12Dalkia601m427m
21NG Bailey532m500m
33T Clarke491m425m
410SES Engineering Services299m173m
58SRW267m209m
614Gratte Brothers250m125m
74Crown House238m269m
87Vital Energi220m227m
96Briggs & Forrester212m234m
1011Dodd Group207m167m
1112Phoenix170m160m
1219Essex Services Group167m114m
1324HE Simm116m66m
1415Ark Mechanical & Electrical Services112m115m
1523JCA Engineering105m72m
1617Mace MEP82m69m
1716Dornan Engineering78m45m
1822Borough Engineering78m72m
19NEWPIP68m36m
2027LJJ63m64m
2129Designer Group62m58m
2221Derry Building Services60m78m
23NEWStothers M&E59m49m
2420King & Moffatt UK58m79m
25NEWJ & B Hopkins55m46m
2626CMB Engineering54m64m
27NEWPrice Building Services52m49m
28NEWMCS51m21m
29NEWBancroft50m57m
3030Swiftline Engineering49m57m
Total revenue4,905m4,128m

Last year’s challenging business environment of inflation, shortage of workers, project delays and supply chain disruptions saw Michael J Lonsdale become the sector’s highest-profile casualty.

Other firms going under included London’s Haydon ME, York’s JDL Electrical, Plumbing & Heating and Bradford-based H Mitton and Newcastle’s
Norstead.

The top 30 firms saw a record six newcomers last year with four operating in London and south east.

The Top 30 is compiled for trade body BESA by Gokhan Hassan, Managing Director at Chartered QS practice, GHCS