Our annual report and accounts for 2020/2021
We have published our Annual Report and Accounts for the year to 31 March 2021.
Not surprisingly, the main focus of the last year has been to support residents through the pandemic. As part of this effort, we made more than 22,000 outbound contacts through letters, emails and phone calls to support customers, and delivered emergency food parcels to 167 residents. We loaned laptops and tablets to colleagues and residents to support home-learning and supported 90 households, which included 200 children with simple, healthy meals during the 2020 summer holidays.
Alongside this emergency support, we also made significant progress on our long-term goals. Despite building sites being closed for long periods, we completed 172 homes, (104 affordable rent, 8 social rent and 60 shared ownership) including 16 homes developed in 2019/20 where customers moved in during 2020/1.
We’re pleased that work started as planned in January 2021 on our £20m redevelopment of John Barker Place on the Westmill estate in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. Through the development we will provide 83 new homes and two shops, along with a new children’s play area which we opened in July 2020.
We invested £3.8m into our existing homes, concentrating on external improvements, and continued to provide emergency repairs to target, with 99% completed within 24 hours. We have provided routine repairs whenever it has been safe to do so. At the end of March 2021, the average time to complete a non-emergency repair was within our 18 day target.
Our financial foundations remained firm this year, with turnover of £66.4m and an increased operating surplus of £21.8m, leading to an operating margin of 32.8%
These accounts contain our first ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) report which demonstrates how we can tackle wider issues, including climate change.
Gavin Cansfield, chief executive said: “I’m pleased to share our financial statements, which continue to demonstrate strong financial management despite a year of unforeseen challenge. I’m also proud that we’re an early adopter of the Good Economy’s sector-wide Sustainability Reporting Standard. Our first Environmental, Social and Governance report sets out how we’re confronting the issues that define our society.”
We’ve published the accounts in a new user-friendly format that can be viewed on any device. We hope that you will find this easier to access. If you’d like more information on any of the issues in the report or would like this information in another format, please contact us.
