• Home
• Financial Highlights
• Divisions
• Chairman's Statement
• Business Review
  • Chief Executive's Review
  • Strategy and Performance
  • Domestic Division
  • Industrial Division
  • Specialist Division
  • Market Outlook and Economic Risk
  • Principal Risks and Uncertainties
  • Finance Director's Review
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Board of Directors
• Executive Committee
• Report of the Directors
• Corporate Governance
  • The Combined Code
  • Directors' Responsibilities
  • Report of the Remuneration Committee
  • Independent Auditors' Report
• Accounts
  • Consolidated Income Statement
  • Consolidated Statement of
    Recognised Income and Expense
  • Consolidated Balance Sheet
  • Consolidated Cash Flow Statement
  • Statement of Accounting Policies
  • Notes to the Accounts
  • Independent Auditors' Report
  • Company Balance Sheet
  • Statement of Accounting Policies
  • Notes to the Company's Accounts
• Company Information
  • Five Year Summary
  • Information for Shareholders
• Accreditations and Memberships
• Delivering across the UK

Market Outlook and Economic Risk

In February 2009, a limited liability partnership was formed called Construction Site Solutions made up of Speedy Hire, Lavendon, Hewden and the BSS Group. This consortium has been put together to maximise revenue generating opportunities from major infrastructure projects. The first location will be in east London.

The Group has a broad spread to its business with over 61,500 customers serviced from over 400 branches, located the length and breadth of the UK and Ireland. Its exposure to any individual customer is limited; the largest customer represents around 4% of revenue and the top 10 customers by value account for just 10% of Group revenue.

The relationship with our customers and our competitive position is anchored primarily on service and availability of product and cost to serve.

As a specialist distributor the primary driver for our products is the repair and maintenance of existing facilities. The element of our revenue driven by ‘improvement’ projects has a broad spread to both the nature of the projects and their source of funding. Major project work has held up well. Work with the MOD, local authorities, health authorities and commercial projects are underpinned by programmes that run in many cases for a number of years.

Economic activity has slowed with the recession and we expect a further degree of contraction in a number of market segments in 2009 and have planned on this basis. We have experienced a tightening in the domestic R & M market in the second half and we anticipate that this will continue throughout 2009. For the Industrial Division we anticipate there will be a slowdown during 2009. Despite slowing markets, new growth opportunities have been identified and are being pursued with energy and purpose. We remain focused on being competitive and are keeping close to our customers and the market and remain optimistic that the Group can continue to outperform the market and pick up new business.

Gavin Slark
Group Chief Executive
27 May 2009