Premier Modular profit soars as it moves into resi market

Offsite construction firm Premier Modular has cited a move into the residential market as one of the spurs for a 25% increase in turnover for the year to June last year.

The firm, which builds both temporary and permanent modular structures for a variety of purposes, said turnover increased to £65.7m, despite the onset of the covid-19 crisis, with pre-tax profit rising 23% to £7m.

The firm’s residential business specialises in mid-rise apartments built offsite for build-to-rent, student housing, affordable housing and housing for the homeless. It currently has two schemes on site, one for council-owned housing company Be First in Dagenham, and a £9m scheme to provide 58 apartments to be used as emergency homeless shelters in High Wycombe.

The firm, which employs 236 people from its Driffield, East Yorkshire base, said that the continuing pandemic was a concern for the future, but that so far the company had managed to win work for the public sector delivering temporary buildings support the national effort to control the virus.

David Harris, managing director of Premier Modular (pictured, right), said the strong results were due to a “clarity of strategy and a really exceptional team across the business”. He said: “In the past year, we have achieved significant growth with our modular apartments and in particular in the development of rapid building solutions to provide housing for the homeless.

“We are also building on the success of our hire business in London to supply construction site accommodation to major national and regional contractors across the UK.”

Premier Modular is owned by South Africa-based global fleet hire business Waco International.