• Swindon & Wiltshire Property
• Friday March 21 2025
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Construction firm Beard celebrates record year

Construction firm Beard has recorded the most successful trading period in its 133-year history, with turnover rising by 10 per cent and approaching £200 million in 2024.

In the full year to 31 December 2024, the Swindon-headquartered, family-owned firm turned over £198 million, with pre-tax profits reaching £5.2 million.

The strong performance was underpinned by the completion of 43 projects from its offices in Bristol, Guildford, Oxford, Southampton and Swindon.

It also saw a successful year for Beard’s newest office in Southampton, which opened in January 2024, and successfully achieved its targets by turning over £4.8 million.

Finance director Fraser Johns (pictured) said: “Having laid the foundations in 2023, we worked hard to continue this momentum into 2024 and are pleased to once again to report strong results.

“We’ve delivered projects for our customers across all our specialist sectors, including education, leisure and commercial. It was also an outstanding year for our special projects teams.

“While it’s been a more favourable trading environment from that of recent years, a continued focus on the basics of building construction has been a key driver.

“We start 2025 with a healthy pipeline of work, supporting our ambitions for further business improvement and growth.”

Project highlights from 2024 included:

• Starting a £14.6 million renovation at Pusey Lane and 19-21 St John’s Street for St John’s College in Oxford
• Starting to build the new £12 million care facility for Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, Farnham
• Starting construction of the £9.7 million African Forest for Bristol Zoo
• Starting a £6.7 million renovation of Hilsea Lido in Portsmouth to bring it back to life
• Completing a £16 million flagship Porsche dealership for Dick Lovett centre in Newport, Wales
• Completing a £12 million new STEM building for Richmond-upon-Thames College