Housing and social care provider, Mears Group, saw its order book rise to £3.2bn in 2018, from 2.6bn the previous year.

The Gloucester-based housing services company, which works across the UK, reported a solid financial performance for the year ending 31st December 2018, with group operating profit up 4.3 per cent.

The group acquired Mitie Property Services during the year and said the integration of the company is going well.

David Miles, CEO of Mears, said: "I am pleased by the progress made by Mears in 2018. Over recent years, the significant strategic evolution of the business has provided access to opportunities that would previously have been out of our reach. This is clearly demonstrated by our recent award by the Home Office of three asylum accommodation and support contracts. This is the largest award secured in our history and valued at over £1 billion over the next 10 years."

Kieran Murphy, chairman, said: "The scale (of the contract) reflects the progress that Mears has made over a number of years in transforming itself from a small-ticket maintenance contractor towards being a specialist provider of housing-related services to the public sector. Winning and, more importantly, delivering this contract to the standards that Mears sets itself required, and will continue to require, high quality dedicated effort from teams across the Group. I look forward to seeing this dedication resulting in effective delivery.

"I was pleased that Mears was recognised recently by the Sunday Times annual survey as one of the best 25 big companies to work for in the UK in 2019. While this reflects well on our investment in culture and people, it speaks volumes about the people who work for us."

Mears employs over 10,000 people and provides services in every region of the UK. In partnership with housing clients, the company maintains, repairs and upgrades the homes of hundreds of thousands of people in communities from remote rural villages to large inner city estates. Mears has extended its activities to provide broader housing solutions to solve the challenge posed by the lack of affordable housing.