Kier Group has closed fiscal year 2026 with revenues and profits at the top end of market expectations. The order book stood at approximately £11.9 billion as of 30 June 2026, up 8% from £11 billion the previous year. The financial position improved markedly: from an average net debt of £49 million in FY25, the group swung to a net cash position of approximately £232 million at period end.
During the second half, the infrastructure division secured around £1.5 billion in new contracts across the nuclear, water and environmental sectors. Two nuclear wins stand out. The first is the Sizewell C North Plaza, the main entrance facility for the £38 billion nuclear power station EDF is developing in Suffolk. The second is even more significant for the future of energy: the ILIOS consortium — led by the Kier and Nuvia joint venture, supported by AECOM, AL_A and Turner & Townsend — has been appointed constructive partner for the STEP fusion programme by UK Fusion Energy. The contract covers a three-year first tranche worth £200 million, part of a programme valued at up to £10 billion in total.
STEP — the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production — is the UK government’s flagship nuclear fusion programme, funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The chosen site is West Burton in Nottinghamshire, a former coal-fired power station that will become home to the UK’s prototype fusion plant. Full construction on site is expected to begin in 2030, with the project set to support up to 8,000 direct jobs at peak. The programme’s goal is ambitious: to deliver a commercially viable fusion plant by 2040. ILIOS will be responsible for designing and building all structures, infrastructure and systems on site, as well as managing the supply chain and programme integration.
Kier’s results reflect a strategy built on alignment with the UK government’s decade-long infrastructure investment plan. The group has positioned itself across frameworks worth a combined £150 billion, with a deliberate focus on sectors such as nuclear, water and defence. The construction division added over £1 billion in new contracts, including more than £300 million in the education sector. Looking ahead to FY27, more than 90% of expected revenues is already covered by the existing order book.
The dual exposure to the civil nuclear cycle — Sizewell C for fission and STEP for fusion — places Kier in a position that will be difficult for competitors to replicate in the near term. If the STEP programme stays on schedule, the company will enter its most intensive construction phase precisely when demand in the UK’s low-carbon energy market is at its peak. An order book approaching £12 billion, with strong visibility already secured for the next financial year, suggests that the growth trajectory is far from over.
