Vp announces redundancies as it rebuilds activity to pre-Covid levels

In response to the downturn in trading, the Harrogate-based firm initially mothballed 120 locations, but over 100 of these sites are once again fully operational and are responding to the growing demand from its customer base as they themselves have returned to work.

The group said its focus over recent months has been to rebuild business activity back to pre-Covid levels, whilst at the same time giving top priority to the health and wellbeing of its colleagues, customers and other stakeholders.

The firm said group revenues have continued to improve, although the initial impact from the reopening of existing sites has slowed and the business has become more reliant on new projects starting. Group revenues are now running at around 85 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

The costs of the branch closures and the redundancies will be recognised as an exceptional charge in the current financial year ending March 31, 2021.

The firm's net debt has reduced to £119m at the end of September, down from £160m at the end of March, an improvement of £41m. Vp said a sustained period of strong cost control, reduced capital expenditure and excellent working capital management delivered the net debt improvement.

Vp said its markets are generally stable and infrastructure work, in particular, should be supportive as the likes of the AMP7, HS2 and Hinkley Point programmes start to gain momentum.

"We do however remain slightly cautious with regard to the short to medium term prospects as we await evidence of a recovery in confidence and the commencement of new projects," the firm said in a trading update.

"In addition we also remain conscious of the fact that the Covid pandemic is yet to be fully under control.

"The longer term outlook for the group remains positive and we are proactively identifying organic growth opportunities, focused particularly within those of our businesses already achieving pre-Covid levels of trading."