Mears sees successful year

Social housing maintenance specialist Mears expects to report another successful trading outcome for the year ended 31 December.The group said it has already secured 75% of its consensus forecast revenues for 2010 and the forward order book stands at £1.8bn. The bid pipeline continues to be strong and Mears is currently at advanced stages of negotiating further significant opportunities, it added.'I am delighted with the progress made across the group during 2009, particularly with our achievements in continuing to build a successful care provision along side our social housing services,' said chairman Bob Holt.'The demand for our services has never been stronger. Our two growth markets Social Housing and Domiciliary Care, which together account for approaching 90% of Group revenues, are defensive markets where spend is largely non discretionary and afford us substantial immunity from bad debts. Moreover as a result of our quality partnership relationships with public sector customers, we have not experienced any work delays in the areas in which we operate.' Mears