Outsourcing giant Mitie reports record sales amid AI-led security projects

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Outsourcing giant Mitie has reported record-high annual sales after it secured new projects with the UK Government and developed artificial intelligence-led security to combat retail crime.

The FTSE 250-listed company works with major firms in the UK and globally for services such as cleaning, security, engineering, and building work.

The firm said its revenues jumped by 11% to £4.5 billion over the year to the end of March, compared with £4.1 billion generated the previous year.

This was partly driven by a growing pipeline of work with the UK Government which includes the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Mitie said it kickstarted a £100 million programme to upgrade the security infrastructure across the DWP, and also undertook “critical” refurbishment and construction work to support the MoD’s defence estate.

However, it said it lost a number of contracts during the year, partly due to the prices of its contracts in a “highly competitive environment”.

The company said revenue growth was also driven by work across its technology services, where it works with companies such as Amazon, BAE Systems, Lloyds Banking Group and Network Rail.

One of the largest projects completed last year was a full re-fit of a 100-year-old turbine engine manufacturing site for Rolls Royce, the company said.

Meanwhile, Mitie revealed that work with retailers and the Home Office to support a new retail crime plan, named Project Pegasus, gained momentum during the year.

“Retailers are facing unprecedented levels of crime, with the estimated cost to the sector having almost doubled over the past year to £3.3 billion per annum,” the firm said.

Mitie said it was using “cutting-edge technologies” to improve security measures, including artificial intelligence (AI) video analytics and biometrics, which help identify criminals.

This work helped it generate more revenue from its business services division, which also includes a steady stream of cleaning and security work with big companies.

The group’s pre-tax profit hit £156.3 million in the latest year, up from £105.5 million a year ago.

Phil Bentley, Mitie’s chief executive, said: “We have secured a number of new contracts and projects in the fourth quarter of the 2024 financial year, and first quarter of the 2025 financial year, which give us good business momentum and we expect to offset, in the medium-term, the contracts lost and ending in 2024.”