Bruntwood reports record profits
Bruntwood has reported a 62% rise in profits in the year to September 2018 in what the company calls a “milestone year” for the business.
The privately owned property company reported £116m in profits before tax as the size of its portfolio grew by 16% to £1.3bn.
Bruntwood’s portfolio is focused on Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. Last year, it launched Bruntwood SciTech, a 50:50 joint venture with Legal & General to create the largest science and technology-focused property platform in the UK.
Bruntwood has reported a 62% rise in profits in the year to September 2018 in what the company calls a “milestone year” for the business.
The privately owned property company reported £116m in profits before tax as the size of its portfolio grew by 16% to £1.3bn.
Bruntwood’s portfolio is focused on Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. Last year, it launched Bruntwood SciTech, a 50:50 joint venture with Legal & General to create the largest science and technology-focused property platform in the UK.
Among Bruntwood’s assets is Alderley Park, the UK’s largest life sciences campus.
It invested £49m into new developments in 2018 alongside £19.3m in capital improvements and refurbishments.
Chris Oglesby, chief executive of Bruntwood, said: “Brexit is, of course, a huge challenge for our economy, but by working with our civic and academic partners towards a common goal of creating the environments where businesses – particularly in globally-facing sectors such as science and technology – can prosper, we will play our part in meeting this challenge.”
Last year, Manchester Science Parnterships, of which Bruntwood is a key shareholder, prelet all of the 92,000 sq ft Citylabs 2.0 development in Manchester to Dutch molecular diagnostics company Qiagen. Bruntwood said it expects the Citylabs campus to create more than 1,500 high-value jobs in the city over the next decade.
In Birmingham, Bruntwood acquired the 113,000 sq ft Innovation Birmingham Campus, which is home to 170 tech companies.
Oglesby added: “We are fully focused on our purpose of creating thriving cities and by continuing to invest in our customers, colleagues and communities, despite the macro-economic picture and the uncertainty Brexit will bring, we can be confident of further growth.
“Our regional cities are thriving and demand for our product and services remains strong, with a good pipeline of deal transactions and opportunities.”
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