Bruntwood profits top £70m
The office developer and investor has announced increased profits and turnover for the year to the end of September 2017; pre-tax profits rose from £69m in 2016 to £71.6m, and turnover rose from £118m to £131m.
The group owns more than 100 buildings across Manchester and Cheshire, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool, made up of 3,000 companies as tenants.
Accounts for Bruntwood Group filed this week at Companies House showed net assets increased 14% to £539m, up from £473m in 2016, while property valuations increased by £54.2m to £1.107bn.
Commenting on “another successful year” Bruntwood Group chief executive Chris Oglesby said the financial results were “clear evidence of our customer-focussed business model creating value through development and asset management, which in turn has led to an increase in occupancy of our buildings.”
During the year the group, which employs 650 people, invested £17m in office refurbishments and capital improvements and £93.2m in developments, including at Alderley Park in Cheshire and Circle Square, its £750m joint venture with Select Property Group in Manchester city centre.
There were 890,000 sq ft of leasing transactions across the group.
The year saw the completion of a number of regional projects, including the refurbishment of Neo in Manchester city centre, and the 70,000 sq ft Bright Building at Manchester Science Park.
Since the year end a deal was struck with Cancer Research UK to relocate its Manchester Institute to Alderley Park after a huge fire last April at the Institute’s longstanding home, the Paterson Building.
Oglesby continued: “Our business is set against a backdrop of change and uncertainty in the wider world. We are witnessing unprecedented levels of disruption in many areas of life driven by rapid technological and digital developments.
“While the property sector is traditionally slow to change, Bruntwood has always sought to disrupt the market through innovation of our customer proposition. We continue to be restless, developing new models that continue to shape markets, meet the demands of the new growth sectors and the new patterns of living and working and are aligned to the strategies of our cities.”
