Mace reports resilient financial performance in 2020

Mace has today (08 December 2021) published its 2020 annual accounts, reporting a resilient financial performance despite the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020 represented Mace’s 30^th consecutive year of profitability, resulting in a profit before taxation of £19.7m, in-line with previous years’ margin (1.1% in 2020, 1.3% in 2019). Mace’s accounts show that over the year, the Group achieved an overall turnover of £1.7bn in 2020, representing just a 3% drop in revenue from 2019; as well as a 9% turnover growth for Mace’s consultancy business; from £314m to £342m.

During the year Mace secured a number of major new roles on global projects and programmes. These included working with the Department for International Trade in Peru on a £2bn resilience and reconstruction programme, the new Evalina Children’s Hospital in London, the New Prisons programme with the UK’s Ministry of Justice, construction of temporary hospitals in South Africa to assist in COVID-19 treatment and major hospitality projects in Vietnam.

Alongside new work, the Group continued to work on the delivery of some of the world’s most ambitious programmes and construction projects, including Expo 2020 Dubai, Battersea Power Station and the new HS2 Euston Station.

Other key highlights in 2020:

• Turnover for Mace’s consultancy business increased by 9% to £342m, from £314m in 2019.
• Achieved a profit before taxation of £19.7m; a profit margin of 1.1% on £1.7bn turnover.
• Mace achieved net zero carbon by reducing carbon emissions by 51% and offsetting the remainder through the procurement of Gold Standard verified carbon offsets.
• The Group invested £48m in research & development, equivalent to 3% of overall revenues
• Mace also delivered more than £447m of construction management work, not included in the overall revenue figure for the Group.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on Mace’s operations across the year, including the voluntary closure of Mace’s UK construction operations for three weeks in April and a managed return to full productivity over the next four months. Despite these challenges, Mace ended the year with a robust financial performance, resulting in a £172m shift in its net cash position, from a £147m net debt position in 2019 to £25m net cash position in 2020.

In 2020, Mace launched its 2026 Business Strategy, setting a purpose to redefine the boundaries of ambition, with key targets: reduce carbon emissions by 10% year-on-year, increasing diversity and reducing the gender and ethnicity pay gap by 10% year-on-year; as well as increasing turnover and profit margins by 20% year-on-year.

For the first time in its history, Mace is launching an annual ESG report together with its 2020 accounts, highlighting its carbon reduction and social value commitments and monitoring its impact on communities and the environment.

Mark Reynolds, Mace’s Group Chief Executive, said:

“2020 was a hugely challenging year, but one that saw our business respond valiantly to difficult circumstances; as well as developing our new purpose and resetting our business strategy. Despite a difficult 12 months, we maintained a resilient financial position, maintaining a record of three decades of profitability and resulting in a £1.7bn turnover.

“We are building on our robust 2020 performance to completely transform our role in creating a sustainable built environment, reducing our carbon emissions, collaborating with clients in reducing theirs, and becoming the most inclusive and diverse employer in our industry. 2021 is set to be a strong year and we have ambitious plans for 2022.”