Liverpool scrap firm S Norton reports hefty annual losses of £17m amid ‘challenging’ trading conditions across its global markets. Tony McDonough reports
Scrap firm S Norton says it remains “cautiously” optimistic about its future prospects despite posting hefty losses of £17m.
Two years ago the firm, located close to Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool’s northern docklands, reported pre-tax profits of more than £1m. The following year that figure plummeted to just £51,000.
Now the family business has posted its accounts for the 12 months to December 31, 2025, on Companies House. They show revenues plunging almost 18% to £374.6m and pre-tax losses of £17m.
Writing in the annual report, director Charles Harry said: “This result reflected a combination of challenging trading conditions across the global metal recycling sector, continued pressure on export markets, increased operating costs and higher waste disposal and compliance-related costs.
“Although export prices show periods of stabilisation during the year, this followed the significant weakening experienced in the second half of 2024.
“Market conditions remained difficult, the pressure of finished steel values, low mill margins in key export markets and generally subdued demand. As a result, any price improvements were short-lived and insufficient to fully offset the cost pressures experienced by the business.”
Headquartered in Regent Road, S Norton collects, processes and distributes around 1.5m tonnes of recycled metals each year. As well as its Liverpool site it also operates from Manchester, Southampton, London and Glasgow.
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It exports to customers all over the world and recycles 95% of all materials it processes, with a target of sending zero waste to landfill. In 2024 it employed 443 people – up from 437 people in the previous year.
Charles added: “The directors have a clear understanding of the factors that contributed to the loss and have taken steps to address those areas within management’s control.. the directors remain cautiously optimistic about the long-term outlook for the sector.”