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Major social housing repairs contractor to unfurlough nearly 1,000 staff next month
Housing contracting giant Mears Group has said it will unfurlough the remainder of its staff by the end of September.
In a stock market update covering the period for the six months up to the end of June, the group, which is responsible for maintenance of 750,000 social homes in the UK, said it had 980 employees on furlough at the end of July and that it expects all of them to be back at work at the end of September.
At its peak, Mears had furloughed more than 2,000 staff, with this number dropping to 1,600 at the end of June. Maintenance activities were at 42% of normal levels at the end of July.
The COVID-19 outbreak saw many maintenance contracts moved to an emergency-only basis which caused the organisation’s maintenance revenues to fall by around 20% from £323.3m in the six months to June in 2019 to £261.1m in the same period this year.
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Mears reported a 7% fall in overall revenue from £439.2m to £407m, with the pandemic contributing to a loss revenue and additional costs of £2.5m.
Given the economic performance, Mears’ board decided it is “inappropriate” to declare an interim dividend for shareholders.
David Miles, chief executive of Mears, said: “The Mears’ business has acted with a great sense of responsibility and professionalism during the COVID-19 pandemic, both in terms of ensuring the ongoing resilience of our operations and supporting the communities where we work.
“Inevitably, the COVID-19 crisis has impacted short-term financial performance in these results, particularly as maintenance contract volumes reduced to emergency only to protect the safety of staff and service users alike.
“Activity levels are returning to normal, and I am very confident as to the financial stability and the long-term well-being of the group. The group has taken positive and considered actions during the COVID-19 period to ensure that the group is stronger than ever and well positioned once the UK sees a return towards normality.”
