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The social housing services contractor this morning revealed it had secured a \u00a3450m, 10-year contract with Birmingham City Council and a \u00a3250m, 10-year deal with Cross Keys Homes in Peterborough, cementing its push into core maintenance work.<\/p>\n
The wins cap a strong year of contract retention and new business, with Mears now sitting on its highest ever forward workload, up from \u00a32.9bn a year ago.<\/p>\n
Group revenue edged up to \u00a31.14bn in the year to December 2025, with a sharp shift in mix as maintenance-led work climbed 12% to \u00a3620m and now accounts for 55% of turnover.<\/p>\n
Management-led activity fell 11% to \u00a3515m as asylum housing volumes normalised from previous highs.<\/p>\n
Pre-tax profit slipped slightly to \u00a363.5m from \u00a364.1m, but margins improved, with adjusted operating margin up to 5.7%.<\/p>\n
Mears said tight operational control and disciplined bidding helped lift profitability despite rising labour costs and a \u00a35m hit from higher employers\u2019 National Insurance.<\/p>\n
The business also strengthened its compliance offer through the acquisition of Pennington Choices, targeting growth driven by tougher building safety and housing standards.<\/p>\n
Chief executive Lucas Critchley said: \u201cDelivering strong growth in our traditional maintenance-led activities is a key achievement which continues to be underpinned by excellent contract retention.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cash generation remained solid, although average net cash dipped to \u00a353m following share buybacks, acquisitions and property investment.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, the firm expects maintenance activity to grow by 5\u20139% annually, underpinned by long-term contracts and regulatory-driven spending on housing upgrades.<\/p>\n
The group has also offloaded its non-core facilities management arm for \u00a318m, sharpening its focus on housing services, with management confident core trading will offset the lost earnings.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n