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Mapping a three-way merger: BPHA, Futures Housing Group and Flagship Homes’ union in numbers
A three-way merger is set to create a 60,000-home landlord spanning much of England. John Wimperis breaks down the numbers
Homes
BPHA: 19,527
Futures Housing Group: 10,315
Flagship Homes: 32,000
The merger will draw together Flagship’s homes across East Anglia with BPHA and Futures’ properties in the East Midlands to create a housing association that stretches from Essex to northern Derbyshire.
With more than 60,000 homes, the new landlord will become one of the largest associations in the UK.
Development programmes
BPHA: 2,500 new homes between 2023 and 2028
Futures Housing Group: 250 new homes a year until 2024
Flagship Homes: 4,000 new homes in five years
Flagship, the largest of the housing associations, currently has the biggest building programme, with its last financial report stating plans to deliver 4,072 new social housing properties over the next five years.
BPHA’s development strategy sees it aim to construct 2,500 new homes in a similar timescale.
Futures plans to invest £193m into new homes by 2024, based on a target of 250 new homes a year. Although a spokesperson said the association is “currently reviewing our forecasts in light of the many challenges facing the construction industry at the moment including material and labour shortages.”
Both Flagship and Futures are involved in strategic partnership agreements with Homes England under the current programme, which runs until 2026. A partnership between Futures, EMH and Midland Heart received £171.7m to build 3,551 affordable homes in the next five years, while Flagship received £93m to build 1,500.
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Turnover
BPHA: £150.1m
Futures Housing Group: £62.3m
Flagship Homes: £200.2m
The three housing associations together pull in a turnover of over £400m.
In March 2021, BPHA’s turnover from the social housing part of its operation was £110.2m and Flagship’s was £170.5m.
Surplus
BPHA: £37.6m (25% of turnover)
Futures Housing Group: £11m (17.7% of turnover)
Flagship Homes: £46.1m (23% of turnover)
Of the three landlords, only BPHA saw an increase in its pre-tax surplus at the end of the 2020-21 financial year, up from £18m in March 2020. Futures saw a mild decrease in the same period, from £11.8m to £11m.
Flagship’s annual surplus went from £62.3m in 2020 to £46.1m in 2021, although much of this drop is due to the fact the association received £15.3m gift on acquisition in 2020, increasing its surplus for that year. The decrease in its operating surplus was £2.2m.
Liquidity
BPHA: £304m (September 2021)
Futures Housing Group: £114.8m (March 2021)
Flagship Homes: £355m (September 2021)
Flagship has the highest level of liquidity, followed by BPHA. Flagship’s liquidity was boosted following the issuance of a £250m public bond in July last year.
In its annual results for 2020-21, Futures said its liquidity risk is effectively managed as its cash and cash investments can be accessed within seven days and all committed debt facilities can be accessed within two days.
Bosses and management teams
BPHA
Kevin Bolt (pictured above) has led BPHA for eight years, but plans to step down next month, ahead of his 65th birthday.
He was originally appointed chief executive on an interim basis in 2014, succeeding Kevin Turmore, who resigned from the position after just 17 days. Following four months as interim chief executive, Mr Bolt’s position was made permanent.
He had previously worked as a director at Appletiser and cider manufacturer Merrydown, as well as having been commercial director at a water cooler business.
Senior leadership team:
Julian Pearce, chief financial officer
Jeff Astle, executive director of development and sales
Anna Humphries, director of customers and services
Gosia Motler, director of strategy and corporate finance
Paul Cook, director of property services and compliance
Philippa Spratley, director of governance and compliance
Paul Leinster, chair of the board
Futures Housing Group
Lindsey Williams (pictured above) was the chief executive of Amber Valley Housing when it was founded in 2003 and continued in the role when it became Futures Housing Group in 2007.
In 2018, she stood for vice-president of the Chartered Institute of Housing, a body of which she has been a member since she was 18. Last year she became president of the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce.
Senior leadership team:
Ian Skipp, group director of finance and resources
Dean Anderson, director of customer services
Ceri Theobald, group director of strategic partnerships and growth
Nicola Hope, director of business transformation
Mike Stevenson, group chair
Flagship Group
David McQuade (pictured above) first joined Flagship’s executive team in 1999 as deputy chief executive.
He has 40 years of experience in the housing sector, having started out as a manager of a Glasgow estate in the 1980s. He moved to England in 1988 and worked for housing associations and local authorities in Kent and Suffolk before joining Flagship.
Senior leadership team:
Helen Walsham, deputy chief executive
David Armstrong, chief financial officer
John Archibald, chief strategic officer
Peter Hawes, chair of the board
Previous mergers
BPHA
BPHA was formed by a stock transfer in 1990 after tenants of North Bedfordshire Borough Council voted to create a housing association and raised the money to buy the authority’s housing stock. The landlord has since expanded its stock and manages homes across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.
Futures Housing Group
Futures was formed in 2007 from Amber Valley Housing’s merger with Daventry & District Housing. In 2020, social enterprise landscaping service Greenscape, which had been set up by Futures in 2011, merged into the housing group.
Flagship Group
This three-way merger will be Flagship’s third in recent years. The association merged with Victory Housing in January 2019 and followed this up in January 2020 with the acquisition of Suffolk Housing Society. The mergers increased Flagship’s housing stock by 8,000 homes in just one year.
