John Sisk & Son group turnover last year was just over €1.485bn, down slightly from 2020’s €1.503bn. Turnover in 2022 is expected to hit €1.6bn. Revenue on the island of Ireland grew by €10m to €715m in 2021 and represented 48% of overall turnover. The UK market contributed just over 33% of turnover, with Europe accounting for the remaining 19%.
The group currently employs 1,850 people, with the breakdown across the three geographies roughly similar to that of turnover.
The European market – where the company is focused on the data centre, tech and life sciences sectors – has seen significant growth in recent years, and this is expected to continue. The company sees opportunities in those sectors, which form a key part of the strategy to develop and grow.
Total Turnover:
€1,485,700,000
ROI Turnover:
€715.5M
International Turnover:
€770.2M
(UK €499.2M, Mainland Europe €271M)
Sustainability at Sisk
Sisk continues to drive towards its target of being net-zero without offsets by 2030, following the publication in 2020 of its Sustainability Roadmap, Building today, Caring for tomorrow.
This roadmap included 21 ambitious targets covering five themes:
- Tackling climate change and air pollution
- Caring for the environment
- Enhancing communities
- Leading on responsible business practices
- Embracing innovation and digital technology.
The company will publish its first annual Sustainability Report, which will update on the performance against these targets, some of which have already been achieved.
Sisk reached carbon neutrality by offset in 2021 and has delivered a range of initiatives around the use of HVO, electric cars by staff and recently commissioned the first electric JCB telehandler on a site in Dublin.
The company also has a range of environmental initiatives ongoing, such as bog restoration and tree planting. It even facilitates staff planting wildflowers every year to encourage pollinators with its Seeds for Bees programme.
Sisk in Ireland
Recent and current projects in Ireland include One Wilton Park Dublin for client IPUT Real Estate Dublin, which will provide a new hub for LinkedIn in Dublin. It is currently working on the next phase at Wilton Park.
In March 2022, Dublin Airport Authority (daa) selected Sisk/Lagan Joint Venture (JV) to undertake its Dublin Airport Airside and Landside civil engineering framework worth over €325m.
In 2022, Sisk achieved a significant milestone on the Dunkettle Interchange project as a new free-flow link road opened between the N25 eastbound and the M8 northbound – the main route out of the city onto the Dublin road.
Bottleworks is an award-winning enterprise and innovation building built for Jones Investment Limited. It is located on No 15 Barrow Street, Dublin 4. The project was completed in July 2021.
Bonham Quay is a commercial development for developer Edward in Galway, and phase one was completed in 2022.
Other civil engineering jobs in Ireland included Pelletstown Railway Station, which opened in September 2021, providing a new railway station; Alexandra Road Bridge, at Dublin Port, completed in November 2021, a 150-metre long, 13-metre wide two-lane vehicular bridge with access ramps over Alexandra Road, and Howth Middle Pier project, which involved the extension of Howth Middle Pier to improve access, maintenance and berthing facilities at the north Dublin site.
Sisk’s special projects team have just completed work at the landmark Avondale House and Forest Park for Coillte. The company has delivered the first stage of the project, which involves a two-storey cafe, an orientation centre, plus courtyard and pavilion.
Sisk is also part of the biggest single commercial property programme investment in Limerick and the largest-ever outside of Dublin at Project Opera.
Sisk in the UK
The Mercian is the tallest residential tower in Birmingham. This includes 481 apartments over 42-storeys and top-tier amenities, including a cinema and a 200-metre rooftop running track.
Construction of a new state-of-the-art campus for Santander in Milton Keynes is taking place. The new office, which represents an investment of Åí150m in the town, will be home to over 6,000 employees and will bring together staff from the bank’s existing local office buildings into one location.
As part of the Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme (LPTIP), Sisk upgraded three gateway routes into the city centre, improving dedicated bus routes and shelters, cycle lanes and footpaths, plus general landscaping improvements, including tree planting.
Wembley Park continues to be a major location for Sisk in London, with work ongoing on the latest phase of BTR apartments there with Quintain.
Recently, Sisk had the successful handover of the Swindon Radiotherapy Unit ahead of programme in April 2022. This project consists of two linear accelerators that will come online when the centre opens to the public.
Sisk also completed two bridge demolitions in May 2022 at junction 10 on the M6 motorway. This is the last in a series of five full closures of the M6 for the installation and demolition of the junction 10 bridges.
Construction of No 1 Birmingham Health Innovation Campus (BHIC) in Selly Oak is underway, marking a major milestone for the region’s rapidly growing life sciences sector.
Sisk in Europe
Leiden Vaccine Facility
Janssen Biologics (Johnson & Johnson) employed Sisk as its construction manager for the VLF (Vaccine Launch Facility) expansion project in late June 2020. The expansion allowed Janssen quadruple production and improve its production run cadence from 14 days to five days. Sisk’s Leiden project received global recognition at the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) Awards. The ISPE awards celebrate best-in-class within the pharma industry.
Data Centre, Southern Sweden
This project consisted of one stand‐alone 14.4MW shell building, single‐storey data centre in southern Sweden with an initial fit-out of the first 8.2MW (Mega- Watt) IT capacity. Sisk implemented its DPD strategy on this project as early as completing site mobilisation, starting to spearhead preconstruction coordination for the complex underground services infrastructure.
Sisk outlook 2022/23
The business is on a really strong financial footing with a robust balance sheet that’s been built up over a number of years, which is very important now in a time of increased uncertainty.
The uncertainty in the market over cost escalation and pricing is a real challenge. Sisk anticipates contracts where it is the preferred contractor taking a lot longer to get over the line in all jurisdictions.
Sisk is working closely with clients to help them make the best decisions on when to go to site with projects against this backdrop of uncertainty so that everyone can manage their way through this period.
The company sees growth across its business with key focus sectors such as data centres, life sciences and technology in all its markets, while it will continue to be strong in residential in the UK and across the full range of projects in Ireland.
Sisk has secured places on several civil engineering frameworks, and that is another element of the strategy.
No 1: John Sisk & Son
ADDRESS: Wilton Works, Naas Road, Dublin 22.
PHONE: 01 409 1500
LINKEDIN: John Sisk & Son Ltd
TWITTER: @JohnSiskandSon
KEY EXECUTIVES: Paul Brown, CEO; Ger Penny, Chief Financial Officer; Steven McGee, Chief Operating Officer Ireland; Donal McCarthy, Chief Operating Officer Data Centres, Life Sciences & Technology; Ajaz Shafi, COO, UK Construction and Civil Engineering; Mark McGreevy, Chief Commercial Officer; Maura Toles, Company Secretary and Chief Legal Officer; Wayne Metcalfe, Director – Health, Safety, Sustainability & Quality; Sean Fitzpatrick, Director – Human Resources.
KEY ACTIVITIES: General Building, Civil Engineering, Fit-Outs, Facilities Management, Offsite Construction.
YEAR-END: 31/12/2021