Candy brothers cut staff by third as turnover dips

Luxury property developers Nick and Christian Candy have laid off a third of their staff in a move that helped lift profits, annual accounts show.

The duo - who built London's most expensive luxury apartment block, One Hyde Park, in 2009 - cut their sales and design staff from 65 people to 38 in the year to last June, according to accounts for their company Candy & Candy Holdings, published on Tuesday.

This took the company's total staff numbers down from 84 to 57. Staffing costs fell from £7.1m to £4.4m as a result.

The drop in staffing costs helped to offset a decline in turnover, which fell by more than a third from £9.5m to £6m. Profit before tax rose by 46 per cent to £497,000. The accounts attributed this to "more efficient cost of sales and savings made within administrative expenses".

Candy & Candy designs the interiors of luxury homes, cars, yachts and private jets, and acts as a project manager on development schemes.

"The interior design market has become more competitive as new design houses are attracted to the work generated from a growing property market," the C&C accounts noted. "This is particularly the case in London."

However, the Candys' development management team has "secured a number of exciting planning commissions in London which have strong potential for redevelopment", the accounts added.

London's luxury housing market has slid into a downturn over the past 18 months as a series of tax changes imposed by George Osborne, the chancellor, targeted wealthy foreign home buyers. 

Fears are also growing of a glut of new luxury apartments as a forest of towers rises in previously unglamorous parts of the capital. The number of towers under construction has risen 56 per cent in the past year, data published last month showed.

The number of homes under construction in the most expensive areas of London is enough to satisfy 14 years of demand, based on recent years' sales volumes, research carried out earlier this year found.

The Candys' company saw a £1.4m net cash outflow due to operating activities in the 12 months to end-June 2014, meaning its net funds available at year-end fell from £4.3m to £2.7m.

The company's highest paid director - who was not named - received £375,000, up from £274,000 the previous year. Another unnamed director was paid £433,000, but this was charged to a related company and not paid for by Candy & Candy Holdings.

Christian Candy has in the past couple of years moved into property lending through his company CPC Group, which offers bridging loans to wealthy home buyers.

Nick Candy declined to comment on the accounts.

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