Rok bought Sol in 2007. It's latest annual results show a profit margin of 1.8%.
Since the time of the acquisition there have been several shifts of emphasis. The set-up prior to acquisition in each of Sol’s offices was different:
Nottingham – was previously mainly a contracting operation with university clients throughout the Midlands
Warwick – did both general building and maintenance, particularly for breweries.
“At Warwick we have back-filled its existing work with additional maintenance work that Rok was doing in the area,” said Snook, “while at Nottingham we have added a maintenance capability.
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“Right now Sol is in line with the rest of our business.”
Prior to acquisition, the bulk of Sol’s turnover came from construction where margins of 1.9% were in line with the industry average.
Snook has worked vigorously to transform Rok’s mode of operation, shying away from new build which he sees as a highly volatile sector.
Rok’s new build turnover ran to £550m in 2007 and has been halved since that time.
“Our [new build] budget for 2009 is £240m and we’ve got £220m of that,” he said. “In 2010 I don’t expect the figure to go beyond £200m.
“Groups with a big exposure in new build will struggle – we are already seeing seven or eight names on tender lists whereas a year ago there would have been just three or four.”
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