Housing and social care provider reports a rise in revenues

Published by

Nicky Godding

Mears Group Plc, the housing and social care provider which has its headquarters in Gloucester, has reported revenues up 10 per cent to £480.8 million. The growth was driven by the purchase of social housing business MPS from Mitie for £35 million. The business employs more than 1,000 people and provides property services to more than 30 social housing providers in the UK.

In addition, the business carries out over 265,000 responsive repairs each year, along with 25,000 repairs for critical services delivered 365/24 hours a day to clients.

Mears Group Chief Executive, David Miles, said: "I am satisfied with the progress made in the first half of 2019. Our financial and market position is robust as we seek to build on existing strengths and take advantage of new opportunities. The Board is confident of making further progress for the full year and over the longer-term.

"A significant amount of time and focused effort has been directed towards the integration of MPS and the mobilisation of AASC (Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract). I am confident that the Group is well placed to benefit from this up-front investment.

"The Group will accelerate the evolution of its Care business, placing increasing emphasis on Housing with Care. We will also continue the unwinding of the working capital absorbed within Development activities, reducing the Group's indebtedness whilst ensuring that we contribute to the housing development needs of our customers.

"The Board remains confident of delivering its expectations for the full year, in line with previous guidance."

Mears employs more than 10,000 people and provides services in every region of the UK. It maintains, repairs and upgrades the homes of hundreds of thousands of people in communities from remote rural villages to large inner city estates. Mears has extended its activities to provide broader housing solutions to solve the challenge posed by the lack of affordable housing and to provide accommodation for the most vulnerable. Its care teams provide support to more than 15,000 people a year, enabling the elderly and those living with disabilities to continue living in their own homes.

In January Mears won three ten year asylum accommodation contracts from the Home Office work £1.15 billion. When the contracts start in September 2019, Mears will run asylum seeker housing in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and in Yorkshire, the Humber and the North-East of England.

The new contracts offer a range of improvements, with a particular focus on assisting individuals through the asylum system. The government wants to ensure that vulnerable asylum seekers have access to the support they need and set clear requirements on the standard and condition of accommodation.

Under the new contracts, providers will be required to have proactive maintenance plans, to make sure that they regularly inspect properties and report back to the Home Office on the findings of these inspections. When issues are identified, providers will be expected to resolve them within set timescales.

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.