Annual results reflect a challenging but successful year

Newly-published annual results for Steeton-based Acorn Stairlifts show that the global business remains in a strong position despite the impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

The results for the year ended September 30th, 2020, include the first eight months of the pandemic. As part of the medical and social care supply chain, Acorn continued to operate throughout the Covid-19 pandemic to service and protect the ongoing needs of its customers.

Covid-19 and the resulting lockdowns initially had a negative impact on the Group’s turnover, but the business reacted quickly and achieved a level of recovery beyond what was predicted. Highlights from the latest annual results are:

• Turnover was £230.6 million, down from £241.1 million the previous year
• Profit after tax was £34.7 million, up from £23.1 million the previous year
• Non UK turnover, showing how much of Acorn’s income is from overseas markets, remained virtually unchanged at 71.1%.

Commenting on the latest results, Acorn’s Group Finance Director Joanne Richardson said: “With most of the world in lockdown, it was inevitable that we would install fewer stairlifts globally during the period covered by this report, but we recovered quickly. These are a positive set of results and a credit to everyone working for Acorn through what has been one of the most challenging periods in the company’s history.”

As well as its UK business, Acorn operates throughout western Europe, the USA and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and South Africa. All of its stairlifts are manufactured in the UK, at factories in Steeton and Shipley, West Yorkshire, and at Haddington, near Edinburgh.