A Warrington-headquartered engineering support services specialist which was founded more than 100 years ago is in a position to “deal more confidently” with a hostile business environment after completing a reorganisation of its operations.

Boulting was established in 1918 by William Boulting as a small electrical contracting outfit. It has since grown to supply some of the world’s largest blue-chip companies across mechanical, electrical and technology.

For the 15 months to 30 April 2018, the company reported turnover of £153m and a pre-tax loss of £4.3m. Its prior period – the 12 months to 31 January 2017 – yielded income of £99.5m and profits of £802,207.

The focus for the company has been its reorganisation, which it completed in April 2018. The difficult market conditions experienced in some of its core sectors persisted throughout the period, with no improvements expected until at least 2020/21.

Boulting also, for the first time in its history, failed to prevent a “significant loss” on a project to the tune of £5.3m, which was shown as an exceptional cost.

While efforts were made to control the operating cost base, additional costs were incurred in terms of further investment in its future pipeline, particularly in the nuclear sector. However, pharmaceuticals was “very busy” in the period and helped to offset some of the difficulties elsewhere.

Sales were also up in the electrical and technological divisions.

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