Henry Boot sees profit rise 40%

Henry Boot has reported a 40% increase in pre-tax profit and a 33% rise in revenue in its latest full-year results as the company’s development arm pushes forward with major projects in Manchester city centre.

The Sheffield-headquartered developer and contractor reported a revenue of £408.5m for the year to 31 December 2017, up from £306.8m a year earlier, while pre-tax profit rose to £55.4m, up from £39.5m.

This year, the company has continued working with joint venture partner Capital & Centric on Kampus, a £220m, 533-home development near Canal Street and Aytoun Street.

Work started on the first phase last year, with work carried out by main contractor Mount Anvil, and a planning application for the second phase of the project was approved later in the year. Ares is the funder.

Henry Boot was also picked as development partner for the Island Site, where it will be tasked with bringing forward a 90,000 sq ft new-build office just off John Dalton Street. The project is backed by the Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund.

It is understood Henry Boot beat rival bidders Kier Property and Ask to the role.

Elsewhere in the city centre, the company purchased Equitable House on St Anne’s Square, and is pushing forward with a re-fit of the building’s ground floor retail units, and the conversion of the upper floors into luxury apartments.

The developer also has planning permission for a 140-bed Moxy hotel just outside Spinningfields.

In total, Henry Boot’s development pipeline has now hit more than £1bn for the first time, while it now also holds 13,000 acres of strategic land across the country.

Adam Brady, director and head of Henry Boot Developments’ Manchester office, said: “2017 was an incredible year for our business, particularly our Manchester office. We are committed to continuing to invest in the city, and look forward to bringing forward several transformational schemes during the next twelve months, most notably Kampus and The Island Site.

“Our appointment on the Island Site rounded off a great twelve months – it’s a development that’s of huge importance to the city centre and we look forward to getting started on creating a scheme that we can all be proud of.”