Company responsible for council house repairs in Milton Keynes lost £15m last year

The company that carries out repairs and improvements to council homes all over MK is forecasting a return to profit this year after making a £15m pre-tax loss during 2020.

During the year of lockdown, housing maintenance contractor Mears saw its group revenue decrease by 9% down to £806m, while maintenance revenue slipped 19% to £537m.

The firm reported a pre-tax loss of £15m last year after group revenue slid 9% to £806m with maintenance-led revenues of down 19% to £537m.

Over the past year, Mears has won a three-year contract extension with Milton Keynes Council to provide services worth around £40m a year.

This year the Mears board hopes to see revenue of £800m and a pre-tax profit of £25m, it has been reported.

Mears chief executive officer David Miles said: “Even with the potential post-Covid economic challenges, housing is a sector that will be invested in to support economic recovery and indeed to meet longer term challenges, such as those posed by climate change. There is clear opportunity to grow both our maintenance-led and management-led work and indeed we see an increasing number of opportunities that will integrate all of our services."

Mr Miles said Mears looks after more homes than any other organisation across local and central government.

“We have clear leadership in the maintenance market with 20% share of outsourced contracts and a long-standing reputation for service quality, technology, workforce management and social value," he said.

Mears continued to provide a 24/7 service in Mk during lockdown to ensure homes remained safe, secure and had appropriate power, lighting, heating and hot water.

After the first lockdown started last March, the contractor responded to an average of over 50 emergency or essential repairs requests per day – around one job every ten minutes.

MK Council has continuing to deal with all housing queries during the pandemic, but has prioritised essential repairs for its most vulnerable tenants.