黑洞社区

鈥淭hey鈥檙e not the world鈥檚 finest results,鈥� says David Fison, Osborne鈥檚 chief executive, before adding that they were 鈥渁 step in the right direction鈥�.

The principal disappointment was the 拢22m fall in turnover: the contractor did 拢311m of business in the year to March 2010, compared with 拢333m in the previous 12 months. Fison blames market conditions for this.

Pre-tax profit rose from 拢2.4m to 拢2.8m, although that jump looks more modest than it is because the earlier figure was boosted by 拢1.2m of interest earned on 拢30m that Osborne had in the bank. This year it played safe and divided the money between five banks and made practically no interest.

Fison likes to be safe. He joined the Surrey firm in January last year after being 鈥渁sked to leave鈥� Skanska UK. The reason for the parting was a 拢41.5m loss, caused mainly by two PFI hospital jobs in the Midlands.

Now he constantly talks about Osborne鈥檚 no-risk approach. He likes patient, 鈥渋ncremental鈥� increases in profit won by better management, bigger discounts from suppliers, cheaper subcontractors and safe, well financed projects. This strategy is helped by the fact that Osborne is a private company, so less driven by the City鈥檚 expectations.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been reshaping the business,鈥� says Fison. 鈥淢ost of our jobs are now in the sub-拢20m range. That鈥檚 a deliberate move to take ourselves away from areas likely to be most affected by a downturn. We are still looking at 拢50-60m jobs if we have the right relationships, but a 拢50m job is worth fighting over for the very big players - and we鈥檙e starting to bump into them - so we鈥檙e concentrating elsewhere.鈥�

Current bids include two 拢40m deals - a mixed-use scheme and an academy, both in the South-east - and a 拢25m student centre for the London School of Economics. It is part way through its biggest job, the 拢54m West Thames College, which has another 15 months to go. Meanwhile, it made about 75 of its staff redundant last spring, (leaving about 1,000 workers) in the wake of the Learning and Skills Council college fiasco.

鈥淲e had 拢100m-plus college work coming through, all of which ceased to exist,鈥� says Fison. 鈥淭hat was our big drop-off. I鈥檓 very proud of the guys who, instead of putting their heads down and giving up, started pedalling again. The colleges are figuring out new ways of doing things, but they鈥檙e nowhere near construction. We鈥檝e got two or three under discussion, but it鈥檚 not where we see our salvation.鈥�

Instead, he is keeping an eye on the 黑洞社区 Schools for the Future fall-out, in case de-bundled schools fall into Osborne鈥檚 bracket of work.

Fison predicts that turnover in 2011 will be the same as this year, with profit slightly boosted thanks in part to the recent sale of a former office in Chichester, West Sussex, on which it will make 拢2m profit (next year it will consolidate its offices in a leased building in Reigate).

Osborne is also marketing yet-to-be-built offices on a recently acquired section of the Solent business park, near Southampton - Fison bought it near the bottom of the market and has got planning permission.

Meanwhile, its social housing arm continues to tick over at 拢50m a year, and a railway station upgrade framework brings in steady work, including a 拢2m pedestrian bridge recently completed near Southampton airport.

That project sums up Fison鈥檚 pragmatic attitude: 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 rather over-designed. Everyone is being told that as a country we have to find cheaper ways of doing things, and to do that we鈥檝e got to challenge clients. It was very fine and impressive, designed for a thousand years, but did it need to be? Maybe we鈥檝e got to rethink. We can鈥檛 say it is business as usual.鈥�