United House enjoys profit margin hike to 8%
15:13 07 Nov 2008
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United House (UH), the social housing specialist contractor, has enjoyed a four-fold jump in profit margin to more than 8%.
Latest results, covering the 12 months to 31 December 2007, show turnover of £110m generated a pre-tax profit of £7.7m.
During 2006 there was a margin of 1.7% as a result of UH recording a pre-tax profit of £1.4m on turnover running to £84m.
The orderbook has grown to a record figure of more than £500m from which the group “will achieve substantial growth through 2008 and beyond”.
Operations are managed from a four-hectare head office location in
UH undertakes both residential construction and refurbishment.
The group has continued to invest in the services provided under the name of Flag. the two main uses of this brand are:
- a computerised refurbishment contract process management system; and
- the in-house mechanical services consultancy which now incorporate kitchen design as well as heating design modules.
The range of KPI measurements shows:
- average customer satisfaction score again at 93% (compared with client targets of 85%-90%); and
- Accident Incident Rate (AIR) of 1,262 which compares favourably with the industry average, as published by the British Safety Council, of around 1,600.
UH has 10 directors and their combined pay and pension contributions ran to £1.8m.
The group has 352 employees who are divided up as follows:
- 27 management
- 103 administration
- 14 technical
- 208 operations
The charge for wages and salaries ran to £12m and there was a further £622,000 pension cost.
The highest paid director earned £132,000 and had another £134,000 put into his pension pot.
Under the terms of some contracts, UH is liable for the cost of rectifying defects for a period of 12 months after practical completion. As a result, the figure shows a rolling figure of £1.1m allocated for liabilities and charges at the year-end. During the year, £340,000 was used from this pot and another £600,000 was added.