Styles boss happy with year of progress

STYLES & Wood’s new CEO Tony Lenehan declared himself to be “delighted with the progress the group has made” over the past 12 months as it reported a hike in underlying pre-tax profits from £500,000 to £1.6m in 2011.

The for, has undergone a repositioning under Lenehan’s stewardship after he replaced former chief executive Ivan Mckeever in December 2010.

Since then, the firm said a more “customer-centric organisational structure” has been created. It has also continued to diversify away from its core retail property offer to target sectors such as banking, public sector and commercial office work. This led to sales edging up by 2% last year to £101m (£99.1m).

Mr Lenehan said: “Our ability to grow revenue and margin despite the challenging market conditions endorses the Group’s focus on engagement with customers, our diversified offering, as well as improved operational efficiencies.

“We have continued to deliver strongly in our core sectors, especially within banking and high end retail while at the same time securing new revenue streams including a number of contract wins in the public sector.  

“While conditions in the property support services arena are expected to remain challenging in the short term, the group’s proven ability to win contracts across new sectors gives us confidence in our business model and our ability to increase market share.”