Willerby announces record profits

The UK’s largest manufacturer of holiday homes and lodges, Willerby, has announced record profits as the leisure homes market continues to expand

Willerby has posted the best results in the company’s 77-year history, with revenues above £200m for the first time, as the business continues to capitalise on the growing popularity of staycations.

In the company’s latest accounts, for the year to 1 October, 2022, Willerby recorded turnover of £217m, up 67% from £129.9m the previous year. Operating profits rose to £15.1m, a four-fold increase on £3m the previous year. The business also ended the financial year with a cash balance of £37.6m, up by £12.1m (a 47% increase) year on year.

Willerby builds a third of new units destined for holiday parks – as well as operating a growing residential park homes brand, Willerby Bespoke. Launched in 2018, Willerby Bespoke matured in 2022 to become a profit contributor to the overall business.

Willerby says its performance ‘reflects the buoyancy of the staycation market as increasing numbers of consumers shun holidays abroad in favour of reliable, secure and sustainable UK vacations and more frequent short breaks on these shores’.

Willerby’s CEO, Peter Munk says,

Willerby’s full-year results are particularly remarkable as performance in the first half of the year was impacted by pandemic-driven interruptions to raw material supplies and Covid-related staff absences. The ending of Covid restrictions in February 2022 enabled Willerby to return to normal operations, resulting in a bumper second half of the year.

During the financial year £1.3m was invested in research and development of new products and improved manufacturing processes, including upgrading the Willerby range to the company’s new sustainability specification, the Willerby GreEN Standard.

Willerby is prioritising sustainability across all its operations, including shifting to biomass energy to heat its manufacturing facilities. The company has also worked with partners to create a sustainable end-to-end supply chain, using local suppliers and recycled materials wherever possible.

More than two thirds of Willerby’s fleet now comprises all-electric or hybrid vehicles, following the introduction of a new company vehicle policy in 2021. Willerby has also introduced a fleet of electric bicycles used by staff to cycle around and between its Hull sites, instead of making journeys by car. 

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