Northumberland-headquartered Merit, the UK’s leading industrialised construction and digital manufacturing specialist, has enjoyed another significant year of growth – with a 46% increase in consolidated revenues to £88.4m
Merit owes its success to several key factors. First, the introduction of a proprietary platform design together with increased productivity, which leapt by 71.9% between 2016 and 2022.
Operating from one of the largest construction manufacturing facilities in the UK at 263,000ft2, Merit further enhanced its offsite approach in 2023 with a 44,000sqft expansion at its Cramlington-based factory. The extended high-bay facility became operational in June 2023.
Merit’s commitment to innovation is evident through its substantial investment in research and development (R&D) – nearly £5 million in new intellectual property – to continually optimise and refine its product offering. The integration of advanced technology and software positions the company as leaders in its field of digital manufacturing.
In line with its impressive growth plans, Merit continues to expand its presence within key sectors including healthcare, bioscience and pharmaceutical, semiconductor, aerospace and battery tech. Key performance indicators from the annual results for the year ending 2023 are:
• Consolidated revenues £88.4m – 46% increase on 2022
• Gross profit £17m – + 54% increase on 2022
• EBITDA of £9.1m – + 99% increase on 2022
• Gross cash at year end £6.9m – + 3% increase on 2022
• Net assets: £17.2m – + 55% increase on 2022
Merit’s improved financial performance is supported by a pioneering approach that enables it to produce technically complex buildings through offsite construction and digitalised manufacturing with a Pre-Manufactured Value (PMV) of 75%-95%. These methods enable the company to deliver fixed cost, sustainable, high-quality, bespoke-specification buildings to clients in a third of the time compared to traditional methods of construction.
Tony Wells, CEO at Merit, said: “We are thrilled to report another year of positive financial results, which continues our long-term strategy for growth.
“The results are testament to our commitment to excellence and innovation as we favour an automated and digital-led approach, which delivers complex high-quality buildings, three times faster than traditional solutions.
“Our product platform designs are proving to deliver real, tangible growth, and are built to enhanced quality standards compared to traditional construction whilst also promising better performance, quality, reliability and 60yr longevity. Net Zero also remains a key driver for us and is a focus of significant R&D investment in 2024.”
“Our parametric cost modelling enables real time cost feedback during design development to deliver affordable fixed price cost certainty – unique in construction.
Bringing online increased factory automation for further productivity improvement and the introduction of our V7 platform will be key objectives for Merit in the coming year.”
Recent projects include Berwick’s long-awaited new, 10,500m2, £35m community hospital, Solihull Hospital’s new Elective Hub (Operating Theatre Block) and a new build sterilisation services and decontamination supercentre for Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Merit is also delivering a new 2000m2 multi-million pound therapy-led unit for Norwich Community Hospital, which is expected to be completed within five months.