Liverpool city region road repairs and civil engineering firm Dowhigh sees revenues rise to £18m with ‘no shortage of demand’ but increased costs hit profits. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool city region road repairs and civil engineering firm Dowhigh is reporting strong demand for its service but is seeing margins hit by rising costs.
Dowhigh, which is based in Bootle, has just published its accounts for the 12 months to May 31, 2024, on Companies House. They show a 24% increase in revenues to £18.4m.
However, there was a sharp fall in pre-tax profits from more than £1m in the previous year to £370,000 in the latest accounts.
In the annual report principal shareholder and director Trevor Murray writes: “The company continues to focus on the highway repairs requirements of local authorities. In 2023/24 industry-wide demand gave rise to an increase in turnover.
“But widespread cost increase in materials, labour and ancillary charges meant a reduction in profit margins. Once again, a substantial investment was made in plant and vehicles.”
A family business founded in 1975, Dowhigh works with local authorities and private clients across the North West. Its services include road surfacing, civil engineering, drainage, earthworks and constructing footpaths and cycleways.
In recent years, the company has won a significant volume of work from Liverpool City Council. In September 2022 it was one of three firms to share work on more than 100 road upgrade schemes in the city with a total value of £35m.
Dowhigh also worked on the Everton Park Cycleway improvement project, which started in January 2023 and was completed in February 2024. It focused on cycling and pedestrian infrastructure improvements.
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Trevor Murray added: “The highway repair industry continues to be affected by price pressures both from its local authority customers and from its suppliers of materials and services.
“Despite these factors, in the first six months of 2024/25 the company has been able to maintain a satisfactory level of activity. With no shortage of demand for its services, the directors remain confident about the remainder of the year and beyond.”
During the accounting period the firm employed 60 people and paid out shareholder dividends totalling £80,000.