Mace reports strong performance in 2019

Mace has today (1 December 2020) published its 2019 annual report and accounts, reporting an increase in margin and pre-tax profit. The report show that Mace entered 2020 in a strong and resilient financial position, having achieved its 29th year of consecutive profitability.   

During 2019, Mace supported our clients to deliver some of the world’s most complex and challenging projects, including the delivery of the 2019 Pan-American Games and Parapan Games in Lima, expanded our work in target markets – such as North America – and delivered sustainable growth in target sectors; including global infrastructure and healthcare. 

We also secured a diverse range of new strategic appointments across the world, including the delivery of the new HS2 Euston Station and the transformation of Iceland’s Keflavik Airport. 

The Group continued to focus on improved margins and sustainable performance; and recorded £25.3m of profit in 2019; an increase of more than 30% compared to 2018. In line with expectations, Mace’s overall turnover was £1.8bn in 2019. This was lower than 2018’s revenue which included a very high volume of work delivering European datacentres. 

Other key highlights in 2019: 

• Mace delivered more than £522m value to society, an increase of £31m since 2018. 
• We invested more than £51m in research and development across the Group. 
• Our average time to pay our suppliers continued to drop, from 34 days in 2018 to 26 days in 2019.  
• The gross margin for our construction business doubled to 6%, reflecting a sustained drive to secure and deliver the right work for the right clients.  
• Mace delivered more than £688m of construction management work, not included in the overall revenue figure for the Group. 
• Our consultancy business grew turnover by 15% to more than £314m in 2019; of which 45% was delivered outside of the UK. 
• Our development business now manages more than £2.1bn of development assets, a 10% increase since 2018.  

Launched in early 2018, Mace’s 2022 Business Strategy set out a clear path for the continued success of the Group. 2019 was the second year of successful delivery of the strategy. 

By following the path it laid out we have improved our governance, become more innovative, continued to grow our margins and become a more responsible business that delivers clear value to our clients and provides a place for colleagues to become inspired and develop their careers.

Mace is currently developing a new 2026 Business Strategy that builds on that success and reflects the significant changes we have seen to the global economy and the sectors we work in over the last six months.

Mark Reynolds, Mace’s Group Chief Executive said: 

"2019 was a strong and profitable year for Mace; and one that saw us continue to deliver exceptional results for our clients and progress against the priorities we set ourselves in our 2022 Business Strategy. 

Although the coronavirus pandemic has meant that 2020 has certainly been a challenging year; our robust performance in 2019 has ensured we have been able to remain resilient in the face of global economic uncertainty and challenging trading conditions. 

The international built environment and infrastructure sectors will be feeling the effects of the pandemic for years to come. However, we should not lose sight of the fact that we have a vital role to play in unlocking the economic growth that will drive recovery across the globe. 

“As such, it is more important than ever that we all work together to continue to transform our industry. We must maintain our commitments to delivering social value, reducing carbon and innovating to find better ways to deliver our projects and programmes – and it is more critical than ever that we collectively invest in the next generation of skills and talent.”