Gloucester-based Mears Group, which provides a variety of services to the UK's housing sector, has returned to profit, its latest interim results reveal.

The firm's revenues for the first half of the year were £443.7M, an increase from £396.7M for the same period last year. It made a £5.7 million profit.

David Miles, chief executive officer of the group, said: "The Group has performed well and traded resiliently through another lock-down impacted reporting period. With the cash performance continuing to exceed expectations as trading conditions normalise, we are delighted to be able to restore Mears' long history of sustainable, progressive dividend payments.

"The business is in good shape and with the long-term challenges of affordable housing, public health and climate change high on the political agenda at local and central Government, we look forward to future growth with confidence."

Mears, with headquarters at Gloucester Business Park in Brockworth, employs more than 6,000 people and provides services in every region of the UK.

It maintains and repairs homes for hundreds of thousands of people in communities ranging from remote rural villages to large inner-city areas.