Revenue at the security and facilities management (FM) contractor Mitie was up 14 per cent for the six months to September, according to the firm’s interim results. Operating profit margin was 2.6 per cent; £63.4m, on revenue of £2425m.
The FM firm points to new wins of £2.1bn including security and hygiene services for Community Health Partnerships and the property management firm Landsec. According to the results, retro-fitting and modernising buildings, including lifecycle upgrades, remain a key driver of growth; and fitting out data centres, with mechanical and electrical (M&E), cooling and fire and security systems. That said, the firm reported a pause in some data centre projects, as customers reassess the increase in scale, power and cooling requirements arising from AI. Mitie sees AI as another driver of growth.
Chief speaks
Phil Bentley, Group Chief Executive, said: “We are in the foundation year of our new Facilities Transformation Three-Year Plan (FY25 – FY27); a year in which we are making investments in technology, sales & marketing and our projects capabilities. These investments will enhance our growth by strengthening our market leading position, increasing our pipeline and driving cross-sell opportunities.
“During the first six months of our new Plan, we have delivered good strategic progress and financial performance as our investments start to bear fruit. We have delivered high-single-digit organic growth, in part driven by our ability to stand up a ‘surge response’ team to protect public safety; progressed our programme of margin enhancement initiatives; continued to build our capabilities through targeted acquisitions; and achieved record contract wins and renewals/extensions.
“Growth over the Plan period is underpinned by highly attractive macro trends. Across both the public and private sectors our customers are increasingly looking to Mitie to reduce their carbon footprint, modernise their buildings, implement power upgrades and grid connections, and support their growing data centre and other critical environment requirements as building regulations change. We are also well positioned to support the government in its commitment to invest in the UK’s defence capabilities and the modernisation of its built estate, alongside significant capital funding for schools and the NHS.
“I am grateful to our 72,000 colleagues who provide outstanding service for our customers. Through their hard work and by deploying Mitie’s advanced technologies – harnessing real time data and intelligence, advanced analytics and Artificial Intelligence – we continue to lead our industry.
“We have reflected on the changes to employers’ National Insurance announced in the Autumn Budget, which take effect from April 2025. We have a strong track record of managing inflationary costs – including annual increases in the National Living Wage; contractual protections in place on many of our contracts; and strong customer relationships where negotiations are necessary. Our current estimate is a c.£25m impact of additional costs in FY26, after contractual and commercial recovery through pricing, which we plan to mitigate through new margin enhancement initiatives and other management actions.
“Returning to H1 FY25 – the foundation year of our new Facilities Transformation Three-Year Plan – our financial and operational performance has been good, and I’m pleased that this momentum has continued into the second half of the year. This underpins our confidence that we will deliver the Board’s expectations for the full year, as we progress towards our ambitious medium-term targets.”
As featured in the January edition of Professional Security Magazine, the company is looking to pivot from what it calls traditional facilities management to being technology-driven. The firm is seeking ‘high single digit revenue growth’. As for tech, the firm is looking to use Generative AI (GenAI) assistants to better manage work orders, asset maintenance and onboarding of staff; and is embedding AI in CRM and procurement platforms to offer predictive maintenance.
About the firm
Lloyds Banking Group is Mitie’s largest private sector customer; among other customers are Fedex, Waitrose and Ikea, and UK central government departments such as the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice. Visit www.mitie.com. Among recent acquisitions was Argus Fire, a fire systems business, for £36.9m.
Photo by Mark Rowe; Edinburgh Waverley rail station.
