From the outside, scaffolding firms seem as susceptible as any other construction specialist to the many challenges of recent years. The pandemic, huge hikes in the cost of materials and the chronic shortage of labour have been unhappily joined by spiralling inflation and rising fuel costs, putting the squeeze on everyone's profit margins. But despite all these pressures, scaffolding firms as a whole have weathered the economic storms rather well. Since 2018, the median profit margin of the 10 largest scaffolding firms, as analysed in the annual CN Specialist Index, has topped 6.4 per cent in every year except 2021, the year reflecting the financials of the pandemic impact, when it fell to 1.8 per cent. Last year, scaffolding specialists in the index rebounded to a median 6.7 per cent profit margin compared with 3.4 per cent for all specialists.
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