Where the margin is, and where it is heading
The Gauge reads the dial. It takes the reconciled data from The Feed and reports the blended margin, the spread across the eight contracts, and the forecast at completion. It answers three questions the board asks every month: where is the margin now, where is it heading, and which contracts are pulling it down.
- Client
- Meridian M&E Ltd
- Portfolio
- 8 contracts · £14.2m
- Blended margin
- 21.4% · target 22.0%
- Period
- April 2026 · Month 7
- Prepared by
- BuiltAI Intelligence Ltd
- Reference
- MER-MC-S02
Illustrative example: fictional project and parties.
Read the dial, name the movers
The Gauge turns the reconciled dataset into a margin posture. It reports earned value against cost incurred, the blended rate against target, and the forecast at completion. Just as important, it names the contracts moving the dial, because a blended rate hides as much as it shows. A healthy 21.4% average can still carry a contract bleeding four points below target.
The reading this month
Blended margin is 21.4% against a 22.0% target, 0.6 points short. The spread is wide: Crestfield Phase 2 leads at 23.2% and Kingsferry Crossing trails at 18.1%, a full 3.9 points below target. Five of the eight contracts are at or above target; three sit below it, and they are the same three that carry the aged WIP.
Where it is heading
The Gauge carries the reading forward to a forecast final account of £14.08m against the £14.2m current value: a prudent outturn that discounts part of the variation pipeline and provides against the invoice blockers still to clear. The trajectory is upward for the first time in three periods, but it is event-driven. Holding it depends on recovering Kingsferry, which alone moves the portfolio more than the other seven contracts combined.
What The Gauge hands on
The Gauge produces the Monthly Margin Snapshot and the Forecast vs Actual, and it sets the agenda for The Drain by naming the contracts to work. The margin gap it measures, 0.6 points, becomes the recovery target that the remaining stages exist to close.
The blended rate is only ever a starting point. The Gauge always reports it alongside the spread, because a portfolio at target on average can still hide a contract four points below it. Naming the movers is what turns a number into an action for the stages that follow.