Sluggish economy and rising tax bill send Make’s numbers into reverse

The economy taking longer to recover than expected blunted revenue at Make as increased administration costs sent the firm tumbling into the red, the architect has said in its latest report and accounts.

The practice behind the stalled scheme to redevelop the former ITV Studios headquarters on London’s South Bank, a legal challenge on which is due to be heard next week, said it had been expecting a good year in 2023.

But it said a sluggish economy and delays on planning decisions held up key projects which meant income fell 5% to £18.3m.

And it slumped to a £1.5m pre-tax loss from a £40,000 profit last time after rising administration costs at its Australia and Hong Kong businesses. It added that its tax bill went up on its cash reserves went up as a result of rising interest rates with cash in the bank falling from £6.3m to £4m.

Make’s scheme to redevelop the former ITV studios building on London’s South Bank was first called in in August 2022 and was finally given the green light earlier this year by former communities secretary Michael Gove.

But in the summer campaigners won a judicial review into the controversial 26-storey office scheme, one of the biggest construction projects in the capital.

The hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday with a decision expected in November.

The accounts also said that the cost of job losses this year, with the firm understood to have made around 15% of roles redundant in January, will be reflected in its 2024 accounts. According to its 2023 accounts, the firm had 165 employees.

Turnover in its biggest region, the UK, was flat at £13.8m but income from Europe fell to just £52,500 from £288,000 while business in Asia was down 20% to £2.7m.