Merseyside firm Huyton Asphalt Civils completed the stalled £11m transformation of Lime Street in Liverpool and is now reporting annual revenues of almost £17m. Tony McDonough reports
Annual revenues are up 14% to more than £16.8m at Huyton Asphalt Civils (HA Civils), the firm that completed the stalled £11m revamp of Liverpool’s Lime Street.
HA Civils was called in by Liverpool City Council in October 2021 when the original contractor on the scheme, NMCN, collapsed into administration. Lime Street was a key component of the £47m Liverpool City Centre Connectivity programme.
Based in Liverpool city centre, HA Civils is a civil engineering specialist that works across the UK. It has worked at a number of locations including the East Lancs Road, Islington Junction and Park Lane in Liverpool.
In September 2022 Liverpool City Council’s highways and transportation department said HA Civils was one of a trio of businesses that would carry out upgrades on more than 100 roads in the city. They will share contact worth a total of £35m.
The firm has published its latest accounts on Companies House. They show revenues of £16.86m for the 12 months to March 31, 2022. This was up from the £14.73m reported in 2021. Pre-tax profits were £1.42m, marginally down on the previous year’s figure of £1.47m.
There are three directors at HA Civils. James Blennerhasset owns a 60% stake in the business, Anthony Carney has a 30% share and Scott Walker a 10% stake.
In their report the directors described the performance of the business as a “satisfactory trading result”. They added: “Future trading continues to perform satisfactorily”. And they also said the main challenges for the business were a shortage of skilled workers and the procurement of materials.
During the accounting period the average number of employees at the business was up to 80 from 73. Directors’ remuneration was £150,000 while the directors also shared dividends of £461,405, a significant rise from the £23,000 paid in the previous year.
The report added: “90% of our workforce resides in the Liverpool city region, which positively impacts the local economy, working to strengthen the local pound.
“The company seeks to provide placement opportunities and to recruit NEETs (young people not in education, employment or training) into full-time roles with 11 employed in the year 2021-22.”