IN Brief:
- Underlying profit before tax and goodwill amortisation increased 13% to £12.5m in the six months to 30 June 2026; statutory pre-tax profit was £11.5m.
- The group reported £746.7m of new work across 88 contracts by the end of July, a period extending beyond its June half-year accounts.
- A £1.37bn secured order book is distinct from more than £3.5bn in identified workload and the approximately £5bn total pipeline.
Willmott Dixon has reported a 13% increase in underlying profit before tax and goodwill amortisation to £12.5m for the six months ended 30 June 2026, compared with £11.1m a year earlier. Turnover fell slightly over the same period, while the construction and interiors group reported further contract wins in July.
Reported profit before tax rose to £11.5m from £10.0m, while turnover eased from £548.1m to £544.8m. The £12.5m underlying result excludes goodwill amortisation and should be distinguished from the £11.5m pre-tax result. Increased profitability therefore accompanied a marginal reduction in first-half revenue rather than a rise in completed turnover.
The group reported £127.3m cash at the half-year point, against £122.0m in the comparable 2025 period, with no debt and shareholders’ funds of £190.4m. Its undrawn revolving credit facility has been extended to £50m for three years, with options for two additional one-year periods; the existence of this facility does not mean the company borrowed the full amount.
By 31 July, a month beyond the half-year reporting date, Willmott Dixon said it had secured £746.7m of new work across 88 contracts, with 89% under main contract. These awards represent additional secured workload, not construction revenue already recognised in the six months to June. Their conversion into turnover will depend on each project’s delivery programme.
The company said around 90% of new work came through more than fifteen frameworks. A framework can establish procurement terms and a route to competing for individual commissions, while a subsequent call-off or main contract establishes the corresponding project appointment. The framework proportion and the 89% main-contract figure measure different aspects of the workload.
Separately, Willmott Dixon described a secured order book of £1.37bn and more than £3.5bn of identified workload, giving a total pipeline of approximately £5bn. Only the first component is characterised as secured in the announcement; the balance includes opportunities whose future award and delivery remain contingent on customer decisions and procurement outcomes.
Among the contracts highlighted were a £92.6m College of North West London campus in Wembley for United Colleges Group and a £58.1m Mosslands secondary school for the Department for Education. A £27.7m affordable housing project at Princes Gate, Oldham, for Muse also features in the reported workload, alongside education, healthcare, leisure and public-sector schemes.
Additional examples include the £21.7m Bransbury Park Leisure Centre for Portsmouth City Council, the £16.2m Bath Fire Station for Avon Fire & Rescue, and work at Kendrew Barracks. The values identify individual projects and must not be added to the group’s first-half turnover as though the contracts had already been delivered.
Although the group has converted preconstruction appointments into contracts during 2026, design, approvals, enabling work and site mobilisation may precede substantial construction activity. Willmott Dixon expects the resulting workload to support growth from 2027. The outlook is guidance about future delivery, not a measured increase in 2026 construction output.
Recent project completions and milestones cited by the group include the £100m University of Staffordshire Student Village, Greenheys in Manchester and the £60m UK Biobank national centre, together with buildings for four police forces. At Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, topping-out of the £140m Emergency Care Building marks structural progress, rather than completion of clinical fit-out or commissioning.
The contracts span multiple building types with different programme and handover requirements. Hospital facilities, for example, require technical services testing and specialist fit-out after the structural phase; education and emergency-services buildings also require their own commissioning and occupation processes. The half-year statement does not provide identical milestone dates for every scheme.
Under its Building Our Future strategy, launched in June, Willmott Dixon aims to grow the construction division’s annual turnover from £1.03bn in 2025 to £1.5bn by 2030. That 2030 divisional target is separate from the group’s £544.8m turnover in the first half of 2026 and has not been achieved.
Healthcare and defence are identified as growth markets, while Willmott Dixon Developments is pursuing regeneration partnerships with public bodies. Its work with Milligan on the proposed £100m Baytree Shopping Centre regeneration in Brentwood is an example of the development pipeline, not proof that the full programme has become a signed construction contract.
Willmott Dixon has also identified energy, fuel and materials inflation as pressures on procurement and contract delivery. Variations in input costs can affect supplier quotations and construction margins, although the interim report does not quantify a single inflation percentage across all the group’s work.
The financial and commercial measures therefore cover three separate periods and scopes: reported profit, cash and turnover for the six months ending in June; contract awards counted through the end of July; and a divisional turnover ambition for 2030. The approximately £5bn pipeline further includes a large component that is identified rather than already contracted.
With the £1.37bn secured order book providing visibility of future work, the pace of project starts and the conversion of identified opportunities remain significant variables for the next reporting periods. Delivery of the 2030 growth target will depend on contract awards translating into completed construction activity and revenue.
