AHMM turnover dives by 22%

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) made a loss of over £600,000 and saw its revenue plunge by 22% in the first year of the pandemic.

The architect’s latest accounts said the 12 months to the end of March 2021 had been a “challenging year” as the impact of covid-19 ate into workloads.

The report said the virus had hit the practice on two fronts, reducing on-site working during the early part of the accounting period and resulting in a slowdown in new projects caused by “planning and financing uncertainties”.

Gross margins were placed under “considerable pressure”, dropping from 52% in 2020 to 43% in 2021 and generating an operating loss of £587,000. In 2020, the practice raked in a profit of more than £6m.

The accounts admitted that turnover had seen a “significant decrease” from £55.3m in 2020 to £43.3m in 2021, reverting to fee levels similar to the year ending March 2019, while gross profit also dived from £29m to £18.7m.

But the firm’s headcount remained stable, with the average number of staff dropping by just two from 488 to 486 during the period.

账目显示，全职员工的实际数量下降了6%，至467人，尽管在2021年3月的会计期末，每个员工的销售额下降了近四分之一，从11.3万英镑下降到8.9万英镑，但仍有503名员工在发工资。

The accounts also reveal AHMM claimed £278,000 from the government’s furlough scheme.

The highest-paid director for the period received £434,761 last year, virtually no change on the year before.

Projects completed by the practice during the period despite the disruption caused by covid include 2 New Bailey Square in Salford, an office block, in November.

The Vincent later-living residential scheme in Bristol opened its doors to residents, while east London’s Lorimer House became the first phase of the Bream Street scheme to complete.

The studio also completed a number of projects in Oklahoma, including a residential development in Oklahoma City called the Bower and a mixed-use scheme known as Classen 16.

Major planning consents includedLansdowne House, an office scheme on London’s Berkeley Square, and the£1bn Belgrove House laboratory and office block in King’s Cross制药巨头默克公司。