The tragic Grenfell Tower fire in London will have a financial impact on Brockworth-based social housing providers Mears Group.

Although Mears had no involvement with Grenfell or the local authorities responsible for the property, there will be an effect on the group's future orders.

Social housing clients are making sure their properties are safe and this will delay orders for other work that would have been placed with Mears.

Shares in the company fell by 11 per cent when it announced in its interim results for the six months to June this year that it expected its housing revenues to fall by £30 million in 2017.

Revenue for the six months was £470.8m (2016: £466.2m), growth of one per cent. The housing division, which accounts for 85 per cent of group revenues, reported revenues increasing to £402.1m (2016: £389.6m), organic growth of three per cent.

The Care division, which accounts for 15 per cent of Mears revenues, reported revenues of £68.7m (2016: £76.6m).

In a statement Mears said: "The recent tragic events at Grenfell Tower will impact the Housing division later this year as clients review the commissioning and safety practices at their properties.

"These unexpected events will inevitably impact the timing of our planned workloads as clients' attentions have naturally been diverted towards ensuring their housing portfolios are safe and fully compliant. Consequently, we expect to see delays in planned works orders this year and therefore anticipate Housing revenues of circa £800m in 2017 against an original expectation of circa £830m with a resulting loss of profit and lower overhead recovery.

"These delays in procurement decisions are expected to be temporary given the contractual nature of the work and the housing order book is not affected.

Mears chief executive David Miles said: ""The group has made solid progress in the period and I remain confident and optimistic for the future.

"In Housing, Mears is increasingly being asked by customers and other stakeholders to take greater involvement in helping customers deliver appropriate housing outcomes for a range of tenants and utilising a broader range of services. Consequently, the Mears addressable market is becoming much larger than it was previously and more complex. Our strategy to broaden our service offering has created a significant sustainable competitive advantage for Mears.

"Despite continuing to find the care market challenging, we have made good ongoing progress in this area and our order book is significantly improved with a portfolio of good quality contracts at clear, sustainable margins.

"Given the scale of the reductions in the portfolio in the last twelve months, the revenue performance of Care in the period is encouraging. We remain confident we have the right strategy and the business is best placed to take advantage of industry evolution as it happens.

""Whilst the likely revenue shortfall for the full year is frustrating, it is entirely understandable in the circumstances and the group will be working closely with its partners and clients at this time to address their immediate priorities. Our order book remains strong and the board remains confident in the group's future prospects."