Gloucester based leading UK housing provider says revenues resilient overall

Published by

Nicky Godding

Mears Group PLC, the Gloucester headquartered leading provider of services to the housing sector in the UK, has announced its preliminary financial results for last year. While Group sales were down nine per cent to £805 million, the company said that its revenues were resilient overall and it returned to profitability during the second half of last year, delivering a £4.8 million adjusted profit before tax.

However, It has reported a full-year loss overall of £15.2m, but said it expected an improved performance this year as lockdowns ease.

While its maintenance-led revenues were £536.9 million, down 19 per cent impacted by reduced activity during the pandemic, it reported management-led revenues of £253.8 million up 40 per cent due to the full year impact of the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract ('AASC') which mobilised in September 2019.

The company said that significant strategic progress made during the year, positioning Mears as a low capital-intensity housing services specialist.

David Miles, Chief Executive Officer of the Group, said: "The Mears' business responded with great responsibility and professionalism during the pandemic, both in terms of the ongoing resilience of our operations and supporting the communities where we work. The strength of our people, our infrastructure and our client relationships have served us well through Covid-19, while the urgent need for the services Mears provide has only been heightened by it.

"Today, Mears looks after more homes than any other organisation across local and increasingly central government. We have clear leadership in the maintenance market with c.20% share of outsourced contracts and a long-standing reputation for service quality, technology, workforce management and social value. Our range of services within housing management continues to grow and evolve with successful contracts underway providing housing solutions for many of society's most vulnerable groups.

"Together with our strengthened balance sheet and good cash generation, we look forward with confidence."

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.