The Shareholder Committee met to discuss the financial performance of the Brierley Group for the 2024/25 year, and to consider the Committee's work programme for 2025/26. The Committee noted the Brierley Group's financial performance and endorsed the work programme.

Brierley Group Financial Performance

The committee reviewed the Brierley Group's financial performance for 2024/25. The Outturn Financial Report 2024-25 showed an overall pre-tax profit of £3.2 million, which was £300,000 above the original budget. The total Shareholder Value was approximately £15.8 million for the year.

Kerry Metcalfe, Assistant Director Commercial, Property and Procurement, highlighted the strong performance of several companies within the group:

• Align Property Partners and Align Property Services reported a joint pre-tax profit of £2.36 million.
• Yorwaste profits were £1.28 million.
• NYnet profits were £403,000.
• North Yorkshire Education Services (NYES) reported a surplus of £1.40 million.
• North Yorkshire Highways (NY Highways) had a pre-tax profit of £305,000.
• Bracewell Homes reported a profit of £408,000.

However, Brierley Homes reported a loss of £3.2 million, compared to a budgeted profit of £200,000. This was attributed to delays in sales and a shift towards providing more affordable homes. The council's loan financing arrangements with Brierley Homes provided a premium of £1.3 million, reducing the overall loss to £1.9 million for the year. An external review of the company was underway and would be reported to the Executive on 16 September 2025.

Councillor Kevin Foster, Green and Independents Group Leader, raised concerns about the financial position of Brierley Homes. Councillor Mark Crane, Executive Member for Open to Business, responded that Brierley Homes was benefiting the council by providing affordable homes that would not otherwise have been built.

The report noted several challenges across the wider Brierley Group, including:

• Resourcing, recruitment and retention of professional staff.
• Inflationary cost pressures.

The report also identified current and future areas of development for the companies within the group.

The committee resolved to note the report and the Brierley Group Financial Performance for the 2024/25 year.

Individual Company Performance

The Outturn Financial Report 2024-25 provided a detailed breakdown of each company's performance:

• NYnet: Profit of £403,000, in line with projections. Secured a new contract with North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue.
• First North Law: Profit of £54,000, exceeding budget. Appointed to a national YPO framework[^2]. [^2]: YPO is a publicly owned buying organisation that provides goods and services to schools, local authorities, and other public sector organisations.
• Brierley Homes: Loss of £3.2 million, attributed to delayed sales and a shift towards affordable housing. The company has a pipeline of over 500 homes, with over 200 being affordable. A review of the company's operating model is underway. According to the report, > The delayed sales are caused by several factors including planning and legal issues, and a proportion of the reported loss represents a timing change to revenues rather than a reduction to underlying profitability across the full Brierley Homes development pipeline with sales, and therefore profits, which were due to be achieved in 24/25 now forecast for later years.
• Align Property Partners / Align Property Services: Combined profit of £2.36 million, exceeding target. A £1.0 million dividend was paid to North Yorkshire Council.
• Yorwaste: Pre-tax profit of £1.65 million, with North Yorkshire Council's share being £1.28 million. Won two tenders worth £200,000.
• Veritau: Profit before tax of £51,000, with North Yorkshire Council's shareholding being £20,000. Established Veritau Public Sector Limited.
• NY Highways: Profit before tax of £305,000. Shareholder Value stands at £6.34 million.
• Bracewell Homes: Profit before tax of £408,000.
• Maple Park: Transferred back to the council on 1 October 2024. Draft forecast pre-tax profit of £233,000.
• Brimhams Active: Ceased trading on 30 November 2024, with services transferring to North Yorkshire Council.

Committee Work Programme

The committee endorsed the Shareholder Committee Work Programme 2025/2026. The work programme included reviewing the Brierley Group's performance reports and considering the work programme at future meetings.