John F Hunt sinks to loss after £5m hit from client collapse

John F Hunt has fallen to a £3.5m pre-tax loss after the firm was hit hard by a client’s collapse.

In its latest accounts for the year to 31 March 2025, the UK’s second-biggest demolition contractor said it had lost £5.1m in the wake of the fall into administration of a “major London-based hotel developer”.

The company said it had been working on a high-profile London hotel scheme when the client went under.

The previous year, John F Hunt had tabled a pre-tax profit of £1.6m.

In the latest period, its turnover rose from £89.2m to £102.5m. Cash fell from £8.8m to £8.6m.

Group finance director Ian Saville said the firm had recorded the full anticipated impact of the client’s collapse in the latest reported accounting year. He expected John F Hunt would claw back some money owed by the developer, via the administration process.

“While the administrators’ report indicates that a partial recovery may be available to unsecured creditors subject to the approval of a revised planning application, no such recovery has been recognised at the balance-sheet date,” he added.

Saville said the firm had achieved several “significant” contract awards, and reported “strong” tendering activity throughout the year.

However, he warned that the contractor’s secured workload for 2025/26 had reduced due to “delays to several large projects arising from planning-related matters”.

The firm forecast that its workload would increase in 2026/27, with delayed projects expected to progress.

In October 2024, midway through the accounting period, John F Hunt announced its sale to an employee-ownership trust.

The company was the 94th biggest contractor in the UK’s construction sector, according to the latest CN100 ranking.