Annual revenues at Liverpool scrap metal firm S Norton soar by more than £100m but global turmoil and rising costs sends pre-tax profits plummeting in another ‘below par’ year. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool scrap metal firm S Norton says another “below par” year caused by global turmoil and rising costs has sent pre-tax profits plummeting.
Based in Liverpool docklands, close to Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, S Norton has just published its annual accounts for the 12 months to December 31, 2024, on Companies House.
They reveal an almost 32% surge in revenues to £454.5m. However, difficult market conditions across the world that have prevailed since 2022, saw pre-tax profits plunge to just £51,000 against £1.09m in 2023.
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.
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 437 people – up from 377 people in the previous year.
According to the accounts, the bulk of its revenues in 2024 came from operations outside of Europe, totalling £410m. Its European operations accounted for £36.5m while UK revenues came in at just £8.2m.
Until June 2024 the owners of the business were family members John Harry, Charles Harry and Matthew Harry. However, John Harry, who was chairman of S Norton, sadly died in June 2024 leaving Charles and Matthew as joint owners.
Writing in the annual report, Matthew said: “Financial performance in 2024 could again be considered below par, as the difficult market conditions that emerged during 2022 showed no signs of abating.
“Reduced global demand for steel, driven largely by a sluggish Chinese economy, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and uncertainty in the Middle East centred on Gaza, was the prime cause once again.”
He added: “There was fierce competition for the business that was still available and margins narrowed as a result.
“Increases across the group’s cost bases have further eroded earnings and particular mention should be made of electricity costs and recent changes to waste classifications which, coupled with higher disposal costs generally, have seen huge escalations over the past few years.”
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Despite such difficult headwinds, the business continues to invest for the long-term, Matthew said. There are plans to develop the sites and facilities acquired in Glasgow and Birmingham during 2023.
However, he concluded: “Until some of the global political and macroeconomic issues are resolved it will be difficult for the metal recycling industry to fully recover the ground lost in the past couple of years. At the time of writing, 2025 isn’t offering the prospect of a significant improvement.”