Willmott Dixon: Balancing the books and ‘sustainable growth’

Willmott Dixon Holdings Limited (Wave News profile)

Willmott Dixon is one of the biggest contractors in the UK, commanding an order book worth £2.6 billion and a growing pipeline of work projected to reach a record £4.4 billion in the next five years.

Marshalling the resources necessary to meet that demand is invariably costly for large firms,  with the workforce among the largest expenditures on the company balance sheet.

Willmott Dixon is not immune from this reality. According to business information platform Endole, the group paid out £156.7 million in wages and salaries last year alone, a figure that has increased annually in previous years, by and large.

Directors’ remuneration costs have broadly increased annually from £1.96 million in 2020 to £4 million in 2025, with the highest-paid director receiving £587,000 last year.

Another significant expenditure for contractors is social security costs, such as National Insurance and pensions, which Willmott Dixon paid £19 million into last year, a sum that has been trending upwards for about a decade.

This was included in total employee remuneration costs of £183.2 million across the group, as was £6.7 million in pension contributions.

But construction finance professionals are accustomed to managing large sums such as these, while also having to navigate market instability and economic cycles. Add to that an industry with the highest level of insolvencies in the country, labour and materials costs, inflation, supply chain disruption, and cooling sentiment from the finance sector, and a CFO has their work cut out for them. 

Despite this, Willmott Dixon has maintained a stable balance sheet in recent history, with its equity and record cash position allowing the contractor to emerge relatively unscathed from the effects of the pandemic, election cycles, the Ukraine-Russia war, tariffs, and increasing instability in the Middle East. 

The company is also debt free, has zero borrowings and an undrawn £45 million RCF, which executive chairman Rick Willmott notes is the kind of financial certainty customers “increasingly demand” when choosing a construction partner.

Group revenues have also been relatively consistent across a more than 10-year timeframe, invariably rising above the £1.1 billion threshold on an annual basis, with income flowing from several activities in the UK, including construction, fit out and property development & services.

Public sector procurement frameworks continue to be a standout market for the company, with 80 per cent of new work last year coming via that route, underscored by strong activity in education, housing, leisure and healthcare, core markets for Willmott Dixon.

In Construction, average contract values last year were above £30 million, while the 10 largest projects secured were worth more than £600 million to the business, with the single-largest contract being £142 million in the healthcare sector.  

However, framework renewals in 2026 have been deemed “a major priority” for the group. 

More recently, however, bosses have ruled out “chasing turnover”, prioritising instead “targeted and sustainable growth”, by taking a “measured and calculated” approach for the long term.

“Creating an environment for sustainable and targeted growth means staying relevant to our customers and continuing to adapt and evolve to meet market needs,” said executive chairman, Rick Willmott.

He added: “Customers operating under severe budget pressure will increasingly favour contractors who can demonstrate efficiency, reliability, certainty and measurable social value outcomes.”

Key considerations for Willmott Dixon in the mid-term include: 

• Accelerating conversion of its pre-construction pipeline;
• To re-secure positions on strategic frameworks;
• Build presence in targeted growth sectors;
• Expanding on existing capabilities;
• Maintaining operational discipline; 
• Selective private sector works;
• High-quality, repeat-business customers. 

Another core element of Willmott Dixon’s growth strategy is its commitment to net zero, BREEAM and Passivhaus standards, to meet exacting energy and carbon demands across construction: “Increasingly, customers also want assurance that their buildings achieve the energy performance promised at design stage.”

Chief executive Graham Dundas added: “Our supply chain partners are a vital part of how we deliver for customers, so maintaining strong, collaborative relationships is a strategic priority, especially through these times of geopolitical uncertainty.

“Alongside our framework activities, we continue to selectively pursue private sector and directly negotiated work where it complements our core capabilities and meets our criteria for quality, margin and risk.”

If you have a tip or story idea that fits with our publication, email: rory@wavenews.co.uk