A dynamic year at HCR Group

Aug. 18, 2010 - PRLog -- In another exceptional year, the employee relocation and property related services group posted record results.  HCR Ltd, the employee relocation and accommodation provision business unit, increased turnover by 8% to £5.5 million and PBT increased by 23% to £1.39 million.  HCR Group Turnover was up 9% providing a healthy 16.6% return on sales.

"It has been a dynamic year", stated Finance Director Rob Dolbear. "In April 2009 we acquired a majority stake in Rentright Ltd, a rental property portal (www.rentright.co.uk), which is growing rapidly and is successfully challenging better known and more expensive portals.  In February 2010 we acquired the business assets of Phoenix Relocation Services Ltd out of receivership from the Administrators and we have successfully integrated the strong team and loyal customer base. We have also secured new financing with Santander Bank, providing us with capital for our growth strategy and providing funding for our Guaranteed Sales Price Scheme".

"Our growth strategy is multi-layered", commented Adrian Leach Business Development Director. "We are building a balanced portfolio of clients and income streams to spread risk and increase opportunity across a wide range of markets. We are building long-term, sustainable and transparent client and supplier relationships based on service superiority to retain contracts at rebid and win new contracts. We remain flexible and innovative so we can respond to new market opportunities; we find contemporary methods to deliver traditional services; we utilise novel technologies and we leverage our wide range of skills and experience”.

Leach also observed, “2009-2010 saw HCR win a considerable number of new contracts with blue chip organisations. It also saw the launch of our ‘Sustainable Relocation’ campaign to reduce the impact of employee relocation on our planet and HCR’s commitment to plant a tree for each relocation.  HCR also introduced the ‘Online Career Resource Centre’ to provide a web-based platform enabling job hunters to manage the whole process from beginning to end at a cost employers could afford to offer departing employees.  With substantial increases in employers offering accommodation using the HCR Corporate Let and with more international assignments than ever using the ‘World Connect’ overseas network we are ideally positioned to meet our growth objectives”.

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HCR Group, based in Basingstoke, is the UK’s largest independent relocation specialist and a leading provider of rental accommodation for professionals and their families – UK and Worldwide. Its clients are corporations and government departments. HCR currently has 7,300 people housed under HCR tenancy, and pays in excess of £85 million in rent and utilities per annum on behalf of their clients. The Groups 109 staff relocate approximately 10,000 people p.a. HCR provides a choice of services including a funded Guaranteed Sales Price Scheme, Look See, Home Search, Policy Consulting, School Search, Managing Expenses, and Visa & Immigration. The Group also owns the dedicated Rental Property portal – www.Rentright.co.uk