Post the end of September period end the company won a "significant framework" tender process for gas support work for the South East Consortium (SEC), a group of housing associations responsible for over 140,000 homes in the region. Bilby was ranked first amongst the 52 contractors tendering for the work which starts in 2016 and could potentially run for up to seven years. Analyst Michael Donnelly at brokerage Panmure Gordon predicts the SEC contract will contribute £7m of his £49m revenue estimate in Bilby's financial year to the end of March 2017, and will earn a "margin significantly in excess of the low teens' margins that investors have seen historically".
Bilby's founder and deputy chairman, Phil Copolo, points out that his company now has visible revenue of £180m-plus over the next seven years. He also notes that more than 90 per cent of the work undertaken is from customers who have contracted work with Bilby in the prior year, so there is a high level of repeat business. This improves the quality of revenue, too.