Countryside Partnerships to launch cost-cutting drive

Countryside Partnerships is launching a huge cost-cutting effort following a review of all sites revealed issues at its Midlands and North operations and its offsite business.

The move from three timber-frame factories into an offsite manufacturer has left Countryside with excess capacity and operating losses forecast at £10m this year.

The chair and interim CEO of Countryside, John Martin, said the group’s expansion into the regions had been too ambitious.

Action will now be taken to consolidate regional resources with an aim of reducing costs by £15m per annum.

“After conducting a review of all operational sites, management has identified a number of areas where we can raise our game and our team is moving quickly to improve performance,” said Martin.

He also said that Countryside had failed to realise the benefits of the £135m Westleigh acquisition completed in 2018.

The firm admitted projects were not completed to their high standards and that margins were very low.
The West Midlands region will now be merged with the South Midlands region which is currently unprofitable in order to consolidate teams and focus financial resources.

Its Northern business also experienced significant operational challenges such as delayed starts and failure of some groundworkers, timber-frame and roofing contractors to deliver Countryside’s high standards in the required timeframe. It has now introduced a new management team to rebuild the region.

The firm will continue to off-load assets as part of its move out of traditional housing development in the Home Counties.