Costain: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
Costain Group PLC is owned by its shareholders: as a listed company it has no single person with significant control on the register. In the year to December 2025 it reported turnover of £1,046m.
- Registered name
- COSTAIN GROUP PLC
- Company number
- 01393773
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 12 October 1978
- Registered office area
- East-Central London
- Industry code on the register
- 42110: Civil engineering
- Accounts
- Group accounts, covering the companies it owns
- Accounts type
- Full group accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to December 2025, filed 31 May 2026
What does Costain do?
Costain is an engineering and infrastructure company that designs, builds and maintains projects in transport, water, energy and defence. Its clients are mainly government bodies and regulated utilities, such as road and rail network owners and water companies, and much of its work comes through long-term framework contracts. It offers consultancy and digital services alongside construction. The company was founded in Liverpool in 1865 and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
In brief: engineering and infrastructure · transport, water, energy and defence · long-term public contracts · listed
Source: Spark Intel editorial, checked 24 September 2026. Official website: costain.com.
Who owns Costain?
Costain Group PLC, company number 01393773, has no person with significant control on the register. That is normal for a company whose shares trade on a regulated market: ownership sits with the shareholders who hold the shares at any given time.
The full ownership record is on the Companies House register. Control is given in the bands the register uses, not as exact shareholdings.
Who runs Costain?
The Companies House register lists 8 current officers for Costain Group PLC.
All 8 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Alexander John Vaughan | 7 May 2019 |
| Helen Margaret Willis | 30 November 2020 |
| Anthony James Quinlan | 1 February 2021 |
| Fiona Margaret Barkham | 6 April 2022 |
| Nicole Ann Geoghegan | 5 July 2022 |
| Baroness Kate Harriet Alexandra Rock | 1 November 2022 |
| Steven Lewis Mogford | 1 November 2023 |
| Amanda Lucia Fisher | 1 December 2023 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did Costain file?
Costain Group PLC reported turnover of £1,046m in the year to December 2025. That was down 16.4% on £1,251m the year before.
It reported 3,049 employees. The year before it reported 3,182.
It filed a pre-tax profit of £48m for the year, against a pre-tax profit of £37m the year before.
Staff costs came to £282m. That is an average of £92,000 a head. It ended the year with £215m at the bank and net assets of £258m. It paid dividends of £7m.
| Measure | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £1,046m | £1,251m |
| Pre-tax profit | £48m (filed) | £37m (filed) |
| Employees | 3,049 | 3,182 |
| Staff costs | £282m | £274m |
| Average staff cost per head | £92,000 | £86,000 |
| Bank and cash | £215m | £197m |
| Net assets | £258m | £236m |
| Dividends paid | £7m | £3m |
| Interest paid | £4m | |
| Interest received | £8m | |
| Directors' pay | £5m |
Read the accounts to December 2025 on Companies House, where every set of accounts the company has filed can be downloaded as a PDF.
Are there any charges against Costain?
Costain Group PLC has registered 3 charges at Companies House, of which 1 is still outstanding. A charge is security a lender takes over a company's assets; one is satisfied when the lending behind it is repaid or released.
The outstanding charge
| Charge holder | Created |
|---|---|
| Lloyds Tsb Bank PLC | 13 September 2012 |
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
Costain files as Costain Group PLC, with turnover of £1,046m in its latest filed year.
Questions about Costain
What does Costain do?
Costain is an engineering and infrastructure company that designs, builds and maintains projects in transport, water, energy and defence. Its clients are mainly government bodies and regulated utilities, such as road and rail network owners and water companies, and much of its work comes through long-term framework contracts. It offers consultancy and digital services alongside construction. The company was founded in Liverpool in 1865 and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Who owns Costain?
Costain Group PLC is owned by its shareholders. As a listed company it is exempt from the register of people with significant control, so no single owner appears at Companies House.
How much does Costain make?
Costain Group PLC reported turnover of £1,046m in the year to December 2025. It filed a pre-tax profit of £48m.
How many people work at Costain?
Costain Group PLC reported 3,049 employees in the year to December 2025.
Who runs Costain?
The Companies House register lists 8 current officers for Costain Group PLC. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from Costain Group PLC's filings at Companies House, company number 01393773, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are group accounts: they include the companies it owns.
- Pre-tax profit is the figure the company filed, for both years.
- A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d. A zero in the filing is treated as not disclosed, never as nil.
- Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, from £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, from £2m to the nearest million.
- Ownership is shown in the control bands the register of people with significant control uses, not as exact shareholdings.
- Officers' names and appointment dates come from the Companies House register. Job titles come from the company's own website. The description of what the company does comes from its website, or is marked Spark Intel editorial where it is written from stable, checked facts, with the date either way.
Spark Intel, “Costain: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 28 September 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/costain/. Figures from Companies House filings for COSTAIN GROUP PLC (01393773).
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