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Rydon Group has not made a profit since 2019.

In the year to 30^th September 2024 the company posted a pre-tax loss of £1.0m (2023: £9.1m loss) on turnover of £61.0m (2023: £47.5m).

However, parent company Rydon Group Holdings made a small pre-tax profit last year of £185,000 on turnover of £70.1m (2023: £60.6m).

Chief executive Robert Bond writes in the annual report: “The results for the year were impacted by several factors including high inflation and increased interest rates, leading to strained household budgets and dampened economic growth. There has been a degree of policy uncertainty in the run up to the July general election, albeit that there is a renewed commitment to increasing housing production from the now incumbent Labour party.

“The developer remediation contract has also placed a heavy financial burden on the build environment sector.”

As a member of the Responsible Actors Scheme, Rydon has spent £27m on remediation works up until 30^th September 2024, including £8m in that financial year.

Rydon was the contractor that retrofitted a flammable cladding system onto Grenfell Tower in west London, causing the loss of 72 lives in 2017 when a fire resulting from an electrical fault in a fourth-floor refrigerator rampaged out of control.

As in previous years, Bond addresses the topic in this year’s annual report, emphasising Rydon’s victimhood rather than any culpability.

He writes: “In relation to the Grenfell Inquiry Phase II report published in September, our thoughts very much remain with all those affected by the tragic events on the night of 14^th June 2017.

“The group has been consistently supportive of the public inquiry, cooperating fully with the process. We have reviewed the recommendations in the Phase II report and have been acting on these prior to publication. We also welcome the wider industry implications of the report which make clear that there needs to be a detailed review of several areas including building regulations, product testing and certification.

“The report points to the fact that the fire was the result of the ‘systematic dishonesty’ of companies that manufactured cladding and insulation used for the refurbishment, and exposed long-term failings by government ministers and officials who ignored warnings about building safety checks and that there had been ‘deliberate and sustained strategies to manipulate the testing process misrepresent test data and mislead the market.’

“The report also pointed to Studio E’s failure to warn against the use of ACM [aluminium composite material] cladding which ‘represented a failure to act in accordance with the standard of a reasonably competent architect’ and that Harley Facades lacked necessary ‘technical analysis or expertise.’

“As a result, the role played by government and regulators has allowed for dangerous cladding on thousands of tower blocks around the UK, as well as around the world, and has left the construction industry in a position where it is now having to engage in complex and expensive remediation works.”

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