Carter Jonas, the national property consultancy, recorded an operating revenue of £31.79 million in the first half of 2020. Unaudited accounts for the six months ended 30 June 2020 show revenue down by 5% from £33.42 million for the same period of 2019. At the same time, profits have decreased by 6%.
Mark Granger, Chief Executive, Carter Jonas said: “These results provide a snapshot of our performance in a year that is being defined in part by the impact of the spread of the coronavirus. That said, against this backdrop, these results demonstrate the resilience and success of the broad-based strategy we have developed over the last five years, supported by the hard work and tenacity of our people.
“We have actively pursued work that balances both transactional and non-transactional business. The latter currently represents 70% of our overall operation, and this has helped to safeguard against the inevitable economic upset caused by the pandemic.
“Investment in our people and the technologies that support our daily activities enabled us relatively easily to make the transition to remote-working once lockdown restrictions were imposed. It has allowed our teams to remain accessible and available, and this has benefitted all our clients – from those most severely impacted by the changing economic conditions, to clients who are contributing to the essential work that will help us emerge from this pandemic. Our planning and development team’s involvement in the Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus is one such example.
“Since the easing of restrictions, we are seeing positive signs of growth and activity in most areas of our business. Welcome changes to stamp duty have injected much-needed momentum into the residential market, releasing pent-up demand, which has been evident for some time.
“More widely, we continue to secure new business – just last month our three-year contract with Ealing Council was reported – and have identified a substantial forward pipeline of work in the non-transactional space. As we started H2 2020 effectively debt free, it will give us the confidence to consider the many opportunities that will present themselves in the coming months.”