Giant surges back into the black amid recovery

THE commercial property group behind some of Birmingham’s most prominent office blocks has moved back into the black as it continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bruntwood has posted a pre-tax profit of £44.9 million for the 12 months to the end of September 2021, up from a loss of £18.9 million in the prior year.

However, its turnover fell from £134.4 million to £122.6 million.

This followed the outsourcing of its fitout, facilities management and energy services units and 300 employees into new standalone businesses, called CubicWorks and Unify Management Solutions, which sit outside of the group structure. This was in addition to the absence of non-recurring development income reported in 2019 and 2020.

Bruntwood, which is headquartered in Manchester, owns and operates buildings such Mclaren, Cornwall Buildings and Cornerblock and is the development partner for the new Health Innovation Campus in Selly Oak.

Its ‘SciTech’ arm owns and operates the Innovation Birmingham start-up and tech hub next to Aston University.

It said it completed more than 703,000 sq ft of leasing transactions across its portfolios during the period, with 70 per cent of customers retained at lease break or expiry.

Net asset value increased from £588.6 million to £606.5 million despite the ongoing impact of the pandemic and social distancing restrictions since October 2020.

The group also invested £18.6 million into refurbishment and capital improvement projects across its portfolio last year, along with an additional £27.8 million of equity injected into Bruntwood SciTech that was matched by its joint venture partner Legal & General.

The group also completed two major funding deals including a new £276 million, 15-year facility with Aviva Investors and the extension of a £240 million deal with a club of banks, comprising NatWest, HSBC, Barclays and Santander, to March 2023.

Chief executive Chris Oglesby said: “In the early days of the pandemic, there was a lot of hyperbolic commentary about the decline of our city centres and their workplaces.

“But in fact, what happened was that businesses and people felt the impact their absence had on the innovation, collaboration and interactions that make our economies successful and our lives richer.

“While there may be bumps ahead as the world adjusts to Covid becoming an endemic condition, we have never been more convinced of the vital long-term importance of our cities being able to thrive.

“This is our purpose and we’re doubling down on our commitment to it by ramping up our investment and development activity this year. And of course, our thriving cities need to be surrounded by a diverse network of thriving towns so we will also continue to invest in our existing town centre partnerships while exploring new ones.”