Strategic Report Chief Executive’s Review continued
Outlook Our portfolio structure, conservative gearing and potential to grow income and value through leasing activity put us in a strong position looking forward. We have invested in the portfolio in recent years, upgrading the quality of accommodation, giving us confidence in our ability to let it. The pandemic and its impact are sadly not completely behind us, and there are likely to be more hurdles to overcome. The impacts of the unwinding of Government support, the continued efficacy of the vaccine and speed in which we return to normal, including tourism, travel and even the daily commute to the office, are still not clear. We will continue to create opportunities from our existing portfolio and more widely as the UK gradually returns to life as normal and lockdown conditions ease.
For the year we wrote off £1.6 million of debts, and increased the provision against occupier debtors by £0.2 million, with the total provision at 31 March 2021 standing at £1.6 million. Of the occupiers we have helped, the level of assistance has varied, from allowing a more flexible payment plan, generally in the form of monthly rather than quarterly payments, to instances where we have agreed some form of short-term rent write- off. In some cases, these reductions have been tied into future events, e.g. future rent reviews, lease breaks and extensions or, where there has been no conditionality, based on need. We have tried to be fair in our approach and would hope that our longer-term view will be recognised in future relationships. Our Responsibility Committee has made good progress on sustainability matters and has identified clear targets for material issues. During the year we joined the Better Buildings Partnership and our focus now is on our commitment to becoming net zero carbon. This is detailed in the Being Responsible section of this Report. As mentioned previously, the team has worked incredibly hard this year under difficult circumstances. I would hope that despite our physical remoteness we have been able to maintain the culture and values that underpin our business. We have been there for employees when needed and our employee engagement feedback supports this. Our recent move to Stanford Building significantly improves the quality of our workspace and we will see the full benefit of this once lockdown restrictions ease. Similarly we have engaged with shareholders virtually and have discussed activity and progress throughout the year in conjunction with our brokers and corporate advisers. We continue to maintain an ‘open door’ policy and aim to be as transparent as possible in the way we communicate.
We will continue to create opportunities fromour existing portfolio.
Michael Morris Chief Executive
Michael Morris Chief Executive 26 May 2021
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