Why Durkan is eyeing rapid expansion through social housing stock upgrades

The Durkan Group is shifting its focus from main contracting and wants to triple the headcount of employees in its recently rebranded housing maintanance and retrofit business over the next couple of years.

The pivot comes after what chair Daniel Durkan described in the companies’ latest financial accounts as ”two years of operating losses caused by challenging trading conditions in the housebuilding and construction markets, and unprecedented adverse macroeconomic headwinds”.

The group saw an increase in turnover this year, but it fell to a pre-tax loss due to an exceptional £9.3m fire safety remediation bill.

The business might want to make considerable hires in the maintenance and retrofit space, but it recently had to make redundancies in its contracting teams. 

Part of the shift towards maintenance and retrofit away from building contracting is due to “delays in obtaining regulatory sign-offs under the Building Safety Act, and a consequential slowdown in customer demand at housing associations and local authorities”, according to its accounts.

Dan Germann, who joined as managing director last year, was brought in specifically to grow this refurbishment part of the business, which was rebranded Durkan Regen in February.

By regeneration, Durkan means “asset regeneration”, with the regen business offering planned maintenance, compliance services (like damp and mould, fire remediation and general repairs), as well as retrofit, decarbonisation, and cladding remediation.

The backstory

Durkan is a 55-year-old family business. It was founded by William Durkan, who moved to London from Co Mayo in Ireland in 1955 to start his career in construction.

After working as a plasterer, he founded Durkan in 1970. His son Daniel joined the business in 1983 and is now executive chairman, with Ronan Murphy as group CEO.

The London and South-east focused business has a head office in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, with 145 employees and a turnover of £192m. It builds around 400 homes a year.

The market demand is in new homes and in regeneration. There will be different speeds of growth, but broadly, we’re aiming for a balanced split on both

Traditionally, the group has focused on new homes and commercial, but today a third of its employee headcount is focused on social housing asset regeneration.

The business has traditionally been a main contractor for residential and commercial developments, however, it seems to be moving away from the latter.

“The plan is to focus the whole Durkan business on homes and regeneration,” Germann tells Housing Today. “The market demand is in new homes and in regeneration. There will be different speeds of growth, but broadly, we’re aiming for a balanced split on both.”

The concept

The group’s founder William Durkan is now in his 80s and no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the group – although he occasionally pops over for site visits. Germann appreciates the way his son keeps his father’s ethos and approach going even as the business changes and adapts with the times and market conditions.

“It’s really quite unusual in the sector for a business to have been around as long as Durkan has, but still have the same ownership structure,” Germann says.

“One of the things I found which came through really strongly in the first six months of talking to the customers is that they like the Durkan approach. It still operates as an agile family business in spite of its size. It is customer focused and people focused. It’s a strong culture.”

The strategy

Germann joined the business in October last year, and Durkan Regen was launched four months later. “For the past 50 years, Durkan has always had a refurbishment offer, but it has been very understated, so now we’re building upon it,” he says.

“Our clients are local authorities in London and the home counties, and housing associations. As with any customer base, you’ve got all their competing priorities.

“In the regeneration space, some are focused on remediation, some are focused on damp and mould. Others are focused on increasing decency, some subject to financial challenges.”

The Durkan Regen rebrand was designed to better represent its capabilities in the core markets of decent homes, retrofit, decarbonisation and fire safety/remediation works.

Germann is working with Durkan’s core client base to secure regen work through frameworks, term contracts and tender applications to refurbish and remediate housing stock.

The future

He has a mandate to make the regeneration business as big as the home building business. “The plan in terms of revenue [for Durkan Regen] is to grow somewhere in the region of 25 to 30% year on year for the next four or five years,” he says.

The Durkan Regen business had a turnover of around £22m last year, and that was before the rebrand. “This year, we’re forecasting 40% growth on the first year of Durkan Regen, which is really positive,” Germann says.

“The aim is to grow up to about £100m in the next five years. I’m hoping in that period we’ll get employment up from 45 to probably about 150-160 people.

The demand is definitely there. The profile of the stock means it needs investment

In its accounts, the group said it was assessing the ”commercial risks of its design and build contracting business”. While Germann does not say that the contracting part of the business is being quietly rolled back, the change in focus towards stock upgrades and housebuilding specifically suggests it is being de-prioritised.

“In the regen space you’ve got this dynamic of ageing stock, numerous regulatory changes that have been imposed on our clients and our customers recently, and changes in procurement processes with a backdrop of funding challenges,” he says.

“The demand is definitely there. The profile of the stock means it needs investment.”

The attitude

Germann, who grew up in Bedfordshire, brings 30 years of construction and regeneration experience to Durkan Regen. He likes the ethos of a family business, having been brought into the industry by his own father, training as a qualitative surveyor before progressing into operational roles.

He is also positive about last year’s change in the UK government and its potential impact on the sector. “It’s encouraging to have the level of focus and discussion around the need for new housing,” he says.

“There probably needs to be a bit more discussion around the need for regeneration of existing housing stock.”

In an ideal world, Germann says that Durkan would take a “holistic asset regeneration approach” by proactively updating buildings to high specifications, rather than conducting temporary repairs or responding to regulatory changes.

We’ve actually got a resident who lived in a block that we were refurbishing who is now in our employment

The focus on people, which goes right back to the business William Durkan founded, extends into Durkan Regen in 2025. “A big vision – or driver – of ours as a business is how we integrate with those communities we serve,” says Germann.

“We’re working within the community. Yes, we’re a construction business, but we’re working around people’s homes and communities.

“We will invariably look to enhance local skills. For example, we are currently in partnership with Build East Skills Centre, so we carry out a number of boot camps.

“We’ve actually got a resident who lived in a block that we were refurbishing who is now in our employment. They’re in a resident liaison role, but they’re looking at moving into management.”