A prominent commercial property development and investment company has reported a successful year’s trading boosted by significant deals and developments.
For the year ended 31 March 2025, Hull-based Wykeland Group recorded a profit before tax of £6.3m, an increase of 17 per cent from £5.4m in 2024.
The rise was primarily due to higher property valuations in the group’s core investment business.
Turnover also increased to £9.16m from £8.77m the previous year.
Net assets rose to £118.2m, up from £114.3m, while cash reserves at year end stood at £12.6m (2024: £22m), following significant investment of £11.9m into new property assets.
Wykeland said the results reflected the continuing strength of its core property portfolio alongside its development sites, both wholly owned or in joint ventures.
Wykeland Group finance director Chris Crookham said: “We are delighted that, in an economically challenging year for both ourselves and our tenants, we have reported growth in our pre-tax profits to £6.3m and net assets to nearly £120m.
“These results show the strength of our core property investment business. Our ability to deliver strong and stable financial returns from our core business lays the foundation for the development and regeneration projects we deliver across the wider region.
“The directors would like to put on record our thanks to all the Wykeland team for their dedication and valued contribution to another successful year for the business.
“The positive performance in these results has continued into the first half of this year. We remain well placed to continue to invest in our existing developments and property assets as well as to exploit new opportunities as they arise.”
During the year, the group purchased Elizabeth House, its first significant asset in Leeds, and recently agreed new terms with tenant Clarion Solicitors, securing the building’s occupancy for several years.
Evolve, a speculative industrial scheme at Wykeland’s Melton West business park in East Yorkshire, was completed in the year, with the first unit let, pre-completion, to NHS supplier Medequip.
Also at Melton West, a 2.1 million sq ft retail logistics fulfilment centre for Amazon, which is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs in the region, is now operational, and construction has begun on Smith+Nephew’s new 200,000 sq ft manufacturing facility.
The company recently secured planning consent, subject to conditions, for Finnish manufacturer Metsä Tissue for a three million sq ft tissue paper mill on 211 acres of land adjacent to the M62, near Goole, for which Wykeland holds the long-term development rights to.
Wykeland completed the sympathetic external restoration of the landmark former Burton building at the entrance to Whitefriargate in Hull, to many plaudits, and secured PizzaExpress to occupy the property’s ground floor and basement.
Wykeland’s joint venture with Lincolnshire Co-op at the Waterside Centre in Lincoln benefitted from £3m of capital investments made in the year.
Works to renovate a recent addition to the scheme completed, with Rituals and Accessorize taking the newly-created units. Long-term deals were also agreed with anchor tenants Next and H&M and, with a recent letting to Toytown, Waterside is now 100 per cent occupied.