'The outlook for the company is very positive': Northern Ireland construction firm eyes record growth with £90million pipeline as it enters 2026

Northern Ireland construction engineering firm JF & H Dowds Limited, trading as The Dowds Group, is poised for a record period of growth with £90million of pipelined work as it enters 2026.

The uplift in revenue has been driven by the Group’s new strategic decision to focus on its GB-based M&E projects, which has resulted in an uplift of £12m of new projects in that region in 2024/2025 over the previous trading year.

More than £50m of the new work has been secured and engaged for 2026/27, with the remaining being secured and engaged for 2027/28.

The progressive specialist engineering company which has been in business for almost 50 years recently completed a number of major projects including: Taylor Wessing Commercial Offices with Mace (£14m) and Tertiary/3rd Level education projects - Future Greenwich Campus for Kier at £8m & St Edmunds Hall, Oxford University, £7m.

Going into 2026, Dowds’ flagship projects will include a £27m Mechanical & Electrical scheme at the London School of Economics with McLaren Construction.

Meanwhile, work will continue for The Sisk Group at both Guy & St Thomas Hospital and Lewisham Hospital with a combined value of £20m and on a £14m Life Sciences project with McLaughlin and Harvey at Judd Street, Bloomsbury, London.

The news comes as the company confirmed it had generated turnover of £65.3m for the year ended 31 March 2025, this was £72.7m in the previous year.

As projects move, there will always be an element of revenue impacted, in this year it is owing to project start dates having stretched into 2026.

Notably, there is growth in Gross Margin profitability, which has increased by 3%, this reflects the Group’s detailed focus on delivering quality and operational efficiencies.

As part of their 5-Year Strategic Plan, Dowds has invested £1.6m in 2025 in its new ‘Group Professional Services’ based at their Ballymena HQ. This new initiative has a specialist focus on Engineering for operations, which is unique in the industry. The firm has also been engaged in ongoing recruitment attracting significant high paying - high quality roles.

As a result of the longer-term investment, pre-tax profit dipped from £1.5m to £1.2m, although the working capital position and liquidity of the business remain strong with cash at the bank at the year-end of £9.7m (2024 - £6.6m).

Chief executive, Louise McClelland said: “A key strategic goal for the company is to keep our people and client at the heart of what we do. In the past three years the company invested in a new headquarters in Ballymena with occupation taken up in August 2023.

"As well as being HQ for the business, we also own premises in Kings Cross, London. This ongoing investment demonstrates our commitment to our client and our teams employed in both regions and has established the company as a key player in UK market.”

Executive chair, James Dowds said the directors remain committed to creating sustainable shareholder value through the growth of sales in its core business whilst seeking new opportunities in growth areas that align with company strategy and goals.

“The outlook for the company is very positive as it moves into 2025/26 with a confirmed pipeline and order book for the next 18-months and line of sight further into 2027 and beyond.

“We have established an ESG Forum led by the Energy Services director to help further develop and deliver our ESG strategy. Furthermore, the company has achieved Platinum accreditation in the BITC’s Environmental Benchmarking Survey - an improvement upon our silver accreditation achieved in 2024. ISO14001 accreditation has also been maintained with an extension to business scope.”

In addition, Dowds secured its fifth consecutive plaudit in the Deloitte Best Managed Company programme and was recognised as one of NI’s most responsible companies achieving the Business in the Community’s coveted CORE accreditation as well as Gold Standard in RoSPA’s Health & Safety Excellence Awards.

Chief executive, Louise McClelland added: “The board will continue to develop its commercial and operational strategic objectives, ensuring our people and our client will remain at the heart of our business, guaranteeing we continue to develop our reputation and key relationships, delivering best-in-class service and projects.”