The Gauge™

Margin Position & Forecast

Reading the margin dial — earned value, cost incurred, forecast at completion. Where is the margin now, where is it heading, and which contracts are pulling it down.

Company: Meridian M&E Ltd · 8 contracts
Portfolio: £14.2m · Blended margin 21.4%
Period: April 2026

PORTFOLIO MARGIN — APRIL 2026

21.4% Blended — Target 22.0%

Portfolio margin improved 0.6pp from March (20.8%) to April (21.4%), driven by variation recovery on Whitmore Tower and favourable subcontract outturn on Docklands Phase 2. Still 0.6pp below the 22.0% target but trending positively for the first time in 3 periods.

Contract	Revenue	Cost	Margin £	Margin %	Trend	Flag
Whitmore Tower	£3.2m	£2.46m	£740k	23.1%	↑ +1.2pp
Docklands Phase 2	£2.8m	£2.13m	£670k	23.9%	↑ +0.8pp
Mersey Gateway	£2.1m	£1.72m	£380k	18.1%	↓ −0.4pp	Below target
Riverside Academy	£1.9m	£1.48m	£420k	22.1%	= stable
4 other contracts	£4.2m	£3.31m	£830k	19.8%	↑ +0.3pp
PORTFOLIO	£14.2m	£11.16m	£3.04m	21.4%

Mersey Gateway is the drag on portfolio margin — 18.1% vs 22.0% target. Root cause: £31k re-measure claim unresolved (client deadline 15 May), plus labour overrun on riser installation (2 weeks behind programme). Actions assigned in The Pulse.

STAGE 02 GATE — THE GAUGE

Position Read. Forecast Set. Flags Raised.

✓Margin calculated per contract and portfolio

✓Movement vs prior period and vs budget shown

✓Adverse variance contracts flagged

✓Forecast at completion updated

✓Margin data handed to The Drain for WIP/CNI analysis

Handover to Stage 03 — The Drain™: Mersey Gateway flagged at 18.1%. Portfolio WIP and CNI need clearing to protect the cashflow position.

THE GAUGE — SNAPSHOT

21.4% blended. 0.6pp improvement. 1 contract flagged.

The Gauge reads the margin dial every month — not just where it is, but where it's heading. This month: portfolio improving, one contract dragging. The board knows before the meeting starts.