profitability 
fresh thinking 
sustainability 
people passion 
exciting futures 
stakeholders 
growth
mitie group plc  
annual report and accounts 2008
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
mitie group plc
8 monarch court 
the brooms 
emersons green 
bristol 
bs16 7fh
t 01 17 970 8800 
f 01 17 302 67 43 
e groupmitiecouk
wwwmitiecouk 10 milton keynes council
12  communities and  
local government
14 her majesty’s courts services
1 6 hbos
overview
01 highlights
02 mitie at a glance
04 our strategy
06 our performance
08 our services
10 case studies
business review
18 chairman’s statement 
20 chief executive’s review
24 operating review
32 financial review
36 corporate responsibility
corporate 
governance
4 1  corporate governance 
statement
46  statement of principal 
risks and uncertainties
48 board of directors
49 directors’ report
52  directors’ remuneration 
report
accounts
60  independent auditors’ 
report to the members  
of mitie group plc
61  consolidated income 
statement
62  consolidated statement 
of recognised income 
and expense
63  consolidated balance 
sheet
64 	 	 c o n s o l i d a t e d 	 c a s h 	 fl o w	
statement
65  notes to the consolidated 
fi n a n c i a l 	 s t a t em en t s
90  independent auditors’ 
report to the members  
of mitie group plc
91  company balance sheet
92  notes to the company 
fi n a n c i a l 	 s t a t em en t s
97  shareholder information
cautionary statement
the annual report and accounts contain forward looking 
statements such statements do not relate strictly to 
h i s t o r i c a l 	 o r 	 c u r r e n t 	 f a c t s 	 a n d 	 c a n 	 b e 	 i d e n t i fi e d 	 b y 	 t h e	
use of words such as ‘anticipate’ ‘expect’ ‘intend’ ‘will’ 
’project’ ‘plan’ and ‘believe’ and other words of similar 
meaning in connection with any discussion of future 
events these statements are made by the directors of 
mitie group plc in good faith based on the information 
available to them as at the date of approval of this 
report and will not be updated during the year these 
statements by their nature involve risk and uncertainty 
because they relate to and depend upon events that 
may or may not occur in the future actual events may 
differ materially from those expressed or implied in this 
report and accordingly all such statements should be 
treated with caution nothing in this report should be 
construed 	 as 	 a 	 pr ofit 	 for ecast
printed 	 on 	 t ake 	 2 	 silk 	 and 	 of fset 	 which 	 is 	 made 	 fr om 	 75 	 and 	 100 	 r ecycled 	 fibr es	 
sour ced 	 only 	 fr om 	 post 	 consumer 	 waste 	 t ake 	 2 	 is 	 certified 	 accor ding 	 to 	 the 	 rules	 
for the forest stewardship council
i f 	 y o u 	 h a v e 	 fi n i s h e d 	 r e a d i n g 	 t h e 	 r e p o r t 	 a n d 	 n o 	 l o n g e r 	 w i s h 	 t o 	 r e t a i n 	 i t 	 p l e a s e 	 p a s s 	 i t 	 o n	 
to other interested readers or dispose of it in your recycled paper waste thank you
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printed by mitie document solutions
40
cert nocgscoc2958
shareholder information
results
2008 interim management statement  1 february 2008 
2008 preliminary statement of annual results  19 may 2008  
2009 interim management statement 31 july 2008 
2009 halfyearly results  24 november 2008
dividends
2008 halfyearly dividend 28p 2007 24p paid 8 february 2008 
2008 final proposed 32p 2007 27p ex dividend date 2 july 2008 
 record date 4 july 2008 
 last date for receiptrevocation of drip dividend mandate 14 july 2008 
 payment date 4 august 2008
annual general meeting 31 july 2008 
the merchants’ hall 
the promenade 
clifton down 
bristol  
bs8 3nh
capital history
mid market price 2 april 2001date of subdivision 15250p 
mid market price 31 march 2008 24200p 
2008 lowhigh 22325p28700p
registrars
computershare investor services plc t 0870 702 0010 
the pavilions wwwcomputersharecom 
bridgwater road 
bristol 
bs13 8ae
company
mitie group plc t 0117 970 8800 
8 monarch court f 0117 302 6743 
the brooms e groupmitiecouk 
emerson green wwwmitiecouk 
bristol 
bs16 7fh registered number sc 19230
dividend reinvestment plan
mitie group plc has set up a dividend reinvestment plan drip to enable you to build your shareholding by using your cash dividends 
under a standing election to buy additional shares in mitie group plc if you would like to receive further information including details  
of how to apply please call 0870 707 1158 or apply online at wwwcomputersharecominvestoruk
ecommunications
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information on the group
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 97  mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 1 
overview
highlights 
we have achieved another year of strong proﬁ table growth revenue is up 145 to £14072m and operating proﬁ t 
before amortisation is up 205 to £722m these results have driven earnings per share before other items up 211 
to 149p per share and our full year dividend up 176 to 60p per share
our order book has grown to £44bn 2007 £41bn and we have secured 78 of our budgeted revenue for the year 
ending 31 march 2009 2007 75
our balance sheet remains strong and we have capacity for growth we have low levels of gearing with net debt at 
£156m 2007 £81m and our pension funds are in net surplus we remain focused on the achievement of sustainable 
proﬁ table growth
08
07
06
05
04
03
6945
5658
7997
9356
12288
14072
08
07
06
05
04
03
387
326
443
483
599
722
08
07
06
05
04
03
83
73
88
99
123
149
08
07
06
05
04
03
25
19
34
43
51
60
revenue £m
£14072m
145
operating proﬁ t before 
amortisation £m
£722m
205
earnings per share before 
other items £m
149p
211
dividend per share p
60p
176
 other items are noncash acquisition related items being amortisation of intangible assets and unwinding of discount on deferred contingent consideration 2 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
mitie at 
a glance
we are one of the uk’s leading support services companies 
delivering a range of integrated services to support the 
buildings and infrastructure of our clients we are a people 
business made up of over 49000 talented and driven people 
all working to support our three divisions facilities property 
and engineering services 
we are a uk based ftse 250 company that has a track 
record of growing revenue proﬁ t and earnings per share 
we have a clear strategy and vision supported by a set 
of core values
strategy
to deliver stakeholder value through 
a focus on sustainable proﬁ table 
growth
vision 
to be a company of worldclass 
people delivering worldclass 
services 
values 
•  people – mitie is a people business 
it’s our 49505 people and their 
drive to always do their jobs to the 
very best of their ability that make 
us different 
•  passion – people  passion that’s 
what mitie’s all about take our 
people add their passion and 
you get something really special 
•  fresh thinking – our people are 
always having ideas every day 
the teams at mitie come up with 
original thoughts from the brilliant 
to the sublime it’s our ability to 
innovate that helps us improve 
and develop services enter 
new markets and keep our 
clients happy 
•  exciting futures – we want to make 
sure that all mitie people want to 
do their jobs better than anyone 
else in the world motivating our 
people is part of our daily routine 
providing inspiration from skill 
development career progression 
and recognition of a job well done  mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 3 
sectors
3
contract 
types
key facts
single service
a client outsources one service 
to mitie
multiservice
a client outsources more than 
one service to mitie
facilities 
management
a complete facilities management 
solution tailor made for each and 
every client
3
facilities
services
integrated facilities management 
and a range of services 
including asset management 
energy consultancy document 
management front of house 
catering cleaning engineering 
maintenance landscaping 
pest control security waste and 
environmental management
property 
services
rooﬁ ng repairs and redecoration 
interior ﬁ tout plumbing and heating 
social housing maintenance and 
refurbishment and ﬁ re protection
engineering 
services
mechanical and electrical energy 
generation and management 
technology and infrastructure
service 
areas
£14072m
revenue 
49505
people
£44bn 
order book
uk based
strong balance 
sheet
government 17
finance and professional 13
manufacturing and logistics 11
retail 11
education 9
property management 8
social housing 7
science and technology 6
construction 5
healthcare 4
utilities 4
leisure and entertainment 3
transport 2 4 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
our 
strategy
we have a simple strategy to ensure our future success 
to deliver stakeholder value through a focus on sustainable 
proﬁ table growth
this strategy can be broken down into four areas that are 
all linked to our key performance indicators kpis and other 
management tools which we use to measure our success 
and our progress
“ we have been 
able to grow much 
faster than the 
markets in which 
we operate” mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 5 
our strategy is to deliver value to 
all our stakeholders including our 
shareholders customers employees 
and the wider community
we have an uncompromising 
commitment to deliver value to our 
customers by providing them with 
quality services our ability to do 
this directly impacts on our ability 
to retain our clients we measure 
this part of our strategy using our 
contract retention kpi many of 
the principles in delivering quality 
services start with the attitude of the 
people carrying out those services 
this is why mitie is all about having 
the right people for the job and the 
right attitude to getting it done we 
know that the best way to make 
sure that we have the right people 
is to recruit motivate and retain 
the best talent in our industry to do 
this we provide a comprehensive 
set of beneﬁ ts rewards incentives 
and training we measure our 
performance in this area through 
our management retention kpi by 
providing our clients with quality 
services delivered by quality 
people we will also deliver value 
to our shareholders through the 
sustainable proﬁ table growth of the 
group our ﬁ nancial kpi set reﬂ ects 
our performance in this area
stakeholders
sustainability
sustainability has many 
interpretations for us it’s about 
building and protecting a longterm 
business managing our growth 
rates and planning our resource 
requirements our forward order 
book is a kpi and helps us to monitor 
the visibility and demands of our 
future workloads and earnings 
we act responsibly as a business 
and aim to build a reputation that 
enhances our brand and makes 
us attractive to shareholders 
customers and future employees 
in the long term 
our corporate responsibility cr 
programme is a differentiator for 
clients seeking to do business with 
likeminded organisations and we 
believe that it contributes to our 
ability to sustain our growth in the 
future cr is an important part of 
our strategy and we measure our 
impact on the environment as a 
kpi in the form of our co
2
 emissions 
per employee we also produce 
a separate cr report each year 
which uses key measurements 
to benchmark our progress in 
developing our cr programme
we are focused on growing 
our business proﬁ tably and on 
maintaining our margins within our 
target ranges the remuneration 
of our senior management is 
inﬂ uenced by proﬁ trelated 
performance and we recognise 
that focusing on proﬁ tability rather 
than top line growth is a key factor in 
creating value for our shareholders 
we use our ebita margin as one 
of our ﬁ nancial kpis to monitor 
our performance 
proﬁ tability
we have a track record that has 
seen double digit organic growth 
every year since our formation in 
1987 we are conﬁ dent of continued 
success during the year  we grew 
revenue at a rate of 145 with 
organic growth of 104 whilst 
we saw our markets grow at an 
average of 60
we are well placed to take 
advantage of the trends towards 
both integrated and larger scale 
national contracts that can only be 
delivered by a small number 
of providers 
part of our strategy is to supplement 
our organic growth through 
acquisitions of companies that 
can enhance our service offering 
we look for companies that 
have a similar culture to us – an 
entrepreneurial culture supported 
by strong management where 
achievement is rewarded and 
the satisfaction of customers is the 
primary focus mitie’s own success 
can be attributed to the strength 
and motivation of its people and it 
is a vital ingredient for any company 
that we consider acquiring 
growth 6 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
our 
performance
description our strength lies in the 
management of people and in 
the provision of suitable assets to 
support their work but our business 
is not capital intensive we continue 
to monitor and control capital 
expenditure and target growth 
and acquisitions in areas that do not 
require substantial capital expenditure
target range maintain below 20 
of revenue
comment we have reduced our 
capital expenditure kpi to 14 
2007 18 keeping it well below 
the 20 target limit
description it is important that we 
continue to target a progressive 
dividend policy that provides an 
appropriate return to shareholders 
and that provides a dividend which 
grows in line with the underlying 
earnings of the group 
dividend cover is calculated 
by reference to our underlying 
cashbased earnings which we 
measure using our basic eps 
before amortisation of intangibles 
imputed interest charges relating 
to acquisitions and material non
recurring charges there were no 
06
18
12
08
07
14
capital expenditure 
as a percentage of revenue 
06
186
265
08
07
176
dividend growth 
financial kpis
06
51
51
08
07
51
group ebita 
06
1144
950
08
07
903
 
conversion of ebitda to cash 
description the efﬁ ciency with which 
we manage the generation of cash is 
an important indicator for our business 
mitie is built on a sound understanding 
of the importance of cash and working 
capital management and that ethos 
remains critical to our business the 
conversion of the group’s earnings 
before interest tax depreciation and 
amortisation ebitda to cash is one 
of the signiﬁ cant cash ﬂ ow indicators 
for mitie
target range over 900 of group 
ebitda converted to cash
comment we have achieved our 
target this year with 903 of group 
ebitda being converted to cash
description our earnings before 
interest tax and amortisation ebita 
margin provides us with a good 
indicator of the proﬁ tability of our 
business where we have material 
nonrecurring charges such as 
integration costs we exclude these 
from our measure 
target range maintain ebita margins 
between 50 and 60 per annum
comment we have maintained 
our underlying margins at 51 and 
improved our reported margins from 
their 2007 levels of 49 acquisition 
related integration costs reduced 
reported ebita in 2007
material nonrecurring charges 
in 2008 whilst in 2007 adjustment 
was made in respect of acquisition 
related integration costs the 
adjusted eps after these items is 
149p 2007 128p giving rise to 
underlying growth of 164
target range at least in line with 
underlying earnings growth at 
a cover rate of 25 times 
adjusted earnings
comment our dividend growth 
for the year is 176  giving cover 
of 25 times adjusted earnings mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 7 
mitie’s strategy is centred on sustainable proﬁ table growth 
in delivering this strategy our main aim is to secure value 
enhancement for our shareholders and other stakeholders 
we use the following ﬁ nancial and nonﬁ nancial key 
performance indicators kpis along with other management 
tools to measure our success in the delivery of our strategy 
and the management of our business 
description in order to achieve 
sustainable proﬁ table growth 
we monitor the percentage of 
existing contracts retained in our 
facilities services division on a rolling 
12month basis 
target achieve contract retention 
rates in excess of 900
comment we have improved 
our contract retention rate in our 
facilities services division to 860
06
850
840
08
07
860
retention of existing contracts
within facilities services 
description our forward order book 
ﬁ gure is the total future revenue for 
all of the contracts that we have 
signed with customers this ﬁ gure 
gives us a good indication of our 
ability to sustain our growth rates
target increase order book
comment at the end of the year 
our order book was at £44bn 
showing growth from the prior year
forward order book £bn
06 not measured
41
07
08 44
description we are conscious of 
the impact of our operations on the 
environment our co
2
 emissions are 
calculated using defra conversion 
factors following a review of our 
fuel and utilities usage the rate of 
co
2
 emissions per mitie employee is 
calculated using the average number 
of people employed during the year 
objective understand and 
minimise the environmental 
impact of our operations
comment this year  we have reduced 
our co
2
 emissions per employee from 
070 tonnes equivalent per employee 
to 064 tonnes equivalent
06 not measured
070
07
carbon dioxide emissions tonnes 
equivalent co 2 per employee
08 064
nonﬁ nancial kpis
description reportable accidents 
are deﬁ ned as fatalities major injuries 
and injuries resulting in absence from 
work of over three days our people 
are our greatest asset providing 
them with a safe environment in 
which to work is of paramount 
importance to us so we use a kpi 
for reportable accidents to assess 
our performance
objective retain focus on reducing 
the risk of accidents in our business
comment our focus on health and 
safety has enabled us to reduce 
reportable accidents to 40 per 
1000 employees
06
51
61
08
07
40
reportable accidents 
per 1000 employees
management retention 
06 not measured
914
07
08 920
description mitie is a people 
business and we pride ourselves in 
creating and nurturing outstanding 
management monitoring how 
successful we are in retaining our 
people is an important measure 
for us 
target enhance focus on the 
development and retention of 
management to maintain a 
retention rate of over 900
comment we have increased 
our management retention rates 
to 920 8 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
our 
services
our services span the entire building lifecycle from planning 
and installing to managing and maintaining we provide a 
comprehensive range of integrated services to some of the 
uk’s largest public and private sector businesses working with 
our customers to ensure their buildings and workspaces are 
smarter  greener  safer and better run 
operating divisions
we are organised into three 
operating divisions supported by 
a central team our three divisions 
are structured to mirror the way our 
customers buy their services 
contract types
when working with mitie clients 
are able to choose the way that 
they procure their services 
some clients will buy just one service 
from us some multiple services and 
others may outsource their entire 
facilities management departments 
to us 
contract types split within mitie 
08 07 08 07
78
72
14
18
08 07
8
10
single 
service
multi
service
facilities
management
revenue split £m
08 07 08 07
7321
8204
2151
2857
08 07
2816
3011
facilities
services
property
services
engineering
services mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 9 
single service
the ﬁ rst experience of outsourcing 
for most organisations is usually 
to outsource some of their single 
services it is usually possible to 
provide signiﬁ cant cost savings 
on ﬁ rsttime outsourced contracts 
as specialist suppliers may bring in 
process improvements and new 
technology or may reduce the 
headcount of the service team 
as organisations outsource more 
specialist noncore services the 
number of suppliers and contracts 
that they have to manage increases 
multiservice
in a multiservice contract a client 
will outsource more than one service 
to mitie we know that by providing 
quality services to our clients it is 
more likely that they will outsource 
other services to us rather than 
going to a different supplier multi
service contracts are a common 
progression for organisations that 
have already outsourced some 
of their noncore support services 
for second and third generation 
outsourced contracts it becomes 
harder to save money by process 
improvement alone in a multi
service contract our clients can 
reduce the number of suppliers that 
they have to monitor by contracting 
with us to provide multiple services 
the beneﬁ ts include possible 
synergies in the management and 
delivery of the services one invoice 
every month one health and safety
quality management system to audit 
and fewer suppliers to manage 
we are a valuable partner for 
clients who wish to rationalise their 
supply chain without losing any 
of the expertise that comes with 
outsourcing to specialist suppliers 
facilities 
management 
organisations that are comfortable 
with outsourcing may wish to 
engage with us in a facilities 
management fm contract this 
type of contract is an endto
end facilities solution where mitie 
is brought in to manage the fm 
department for a client we can 
help an organisation identify what 
should be outsourced then deliver 
the services with one integrated 
team with mitie’s range of services 
we are able to provide directly the 
vast majority of services that most 
other fm companies would have to 
subcontract this can help to drive 
down costs and encourage a ‘one 
team’ approach we see the area 
of fm as a large potential growth 
area for mitie 
facilities 
services 
we provide integrated facilities 
services and are responsible 
for managing and maintaining 
properties and workspaces for some 
of the uk’s largest businesses and 
organisations we have the expertise 
in place to support our customers 
in achieving their strategic goals – 
improving services reducing costs 
and creating great workplaces for 
their people 
our comprehensive range of 
services means that we can provide 
all of our facilities services directly 
without having to subcontract to 
third parties saving our customers 
time money and increasing co
operation and efﬁ ciency between 
service teams 
we also provide the specialist 
knowledge to support our customers 
in addressing change from energy 
and environmental management 
and specialist facilities management 
technology to lifecycle management 
and consultancy services 
property 
services
we provide a full suite of property 
services from refurbishment to 
repairs working with clients as 
varied as housing associations 
industrial companies and property 
developers we have specialist 
skills in every aspect of property 
care including interior ﬁ tout 
minor repairs and redecoration 
passive ﬁ re protection plumbing 
and heating refurbishment repair 
and maintenance and rooﬁ ng 
our energy and commitment 
to improving and transforming 
buildings both inside and out 
has made us one of the strongest 
providers in our sector
engineering 
services 
we deliver leadingedge 
sustainable engineering services 
for buildings 
our services cover every aspect of 
design consultancy and installation 
from mainstream mechanical and 
electrical engineering to technology 
infrastructure heating ventilation 
and airconditioning we have 
also gained impressive expertise in 
renewable energy technologies and 
are helping clients make substantial 
reductions in the carbon footprint 
and lifecycle costs of their buildings 10 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 11 
milton keynes council
services provided responsive repairs void 
reinstatement and supply chain management
overview 
we are helping milton keynes council to improve 
their housing service by reinstating empty properties 
more quickly and providing a more effective 
method of carrying out housing repairs on its stock 
of 12000 homes 
key successes
we were contracted to deliver a vastly improved 
and more costeffective maintenance programme 
through a locally based service that encompasses 
all of the main building trades building works and 
improvement programmes within properties
a new process that places great emphasis on 
empowering tradesmen to complete all calls 
on a ‘zero defects zero complaints’ basis has 
been implemented as a direct result the level of 
responsive repairs completed on time has risen by 
13 to 95 average working days for nonurgent 
repairs have fallen from 70 days to just 12 days 
these improvements have increased ﬁ rsttime ﬁ xes 
and have enabled a larger percentage of every 
pound of the council’s repairs budget to be spent 
on maintenance rather than on administering 
the service 12 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
communities and local government 
and the government ofﬁ ce for london
services provided facilities management 
maintenance and engineering cleaning 
catering business services reception porterage 
and mail security and waste management
overview
in 2004 the then ofﬁ ce of the deputy prime 
minister was delivering facilities services through a 
managing agent with a range of subcontractors 
with a need to streamline the management of 
their estates and increasing sustainability targets 
the government department now known as 
communities and local government embarked 
on a process to select a single supplier to deliver 
a fully integrated facilities management service 
since then mitie has been working with the central 
government department to deliver an integrated 
fm service 
key successes
mitie has been successful in delivering savings of 
over £500000 across the contract which have 
been achieved as a result of a continuous drive for 
improvements supporting the central government 
department in rationalising the efﬁ ciency of their 
estate whilst adding considerable value across 
the contract 
the contract is based around a focus on delivering 
innovation and expertise to improve service 
delivery involving all members of the mitie team 
and members of the client team to deliver 
these improvements they have included the 
centralisation of the onsite mailrooms providing 
considerable ﬁ nancial and space saving beneﬁ ts 
to the government department through to 
providing environmental management expertise 
to support communities and local government to 
achieve the recent targets introduced across the 
government estate to reduce co
2
 emissions by 
20 by 2012 
mitie have introduced a range of initiatives across 
the sites to reduce waste and energy usage and 
support the achievement of sustainability targets 
this has included a project to reprogramme the 
timesettings on the passive infrared motionsensors 
across the various sites and the introduction of a 
food composting programme which saw mitie 
working in partnership with a locally based social 
enterprise to support the increase in recycling 
across the sites combined with a range of other 
recycling initiatives this has resulted in a dramatic 
increase in recycling across all sites over the last 
two years with mitie continuing to work with 
communities and local government to achieve 
their targets in this area  mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 13  14 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
her majesty’s courts service hmcs
services provided front of house access 
control cctv monitoring jury supervision 
and car park management 
overview
in 2007 hmcs and the tribunal service decided 
they wanted a more consistent security presence 
with an exclusive manned guarding provider 
across all their sites the key requirement for the 
courts was to have a dedicated motivated and 
specially trained team with the ability to deal with 
a broad range of responsibilities and cope in any 
eventuality 
key successes
mitie has succeeded in providing an excellent 
service with a team of more than 1400 ofﬁ cers at all 
425 county magistrates and tribunal courts across 
england and wales
our approach has resulted in one of the lowest 
turnover rates of security ofﬁ cers in our industry 
we pay close attention to looking after our people 
supplying consistent uniforms across the board and 
providing high quality training delivered at our own 
bespoke academy 
it’s important to both the courts and to mitie 
to maintain this level of excellence and keep 
our people motivated the results have been 
a costeffective and efﬁ cient guarding service 
for staff juries and visitors delivered by a motivated 
security team from a provider with 15 years’ 
experience in dealing with the demanding 
court environment mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 15  16 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
hbos
services provided cleaning landscaping 
and pest control
overview
our relationship with hbos started in 1998 
when mitie was awarded contracts for major 
employment sites in aylesbury london scotland 
and birmingham as well as the post room in 
bristol today mitie cleans over 1000 high street 
branches around the country and more than 130 
hbos ofﬁ ces too employing over 2000 people 
overseen by an account director with their own 
management team as a national accounts 
contract it has direct access to our own 24hr call 
centre based in bristol allowing for instant remedies 
of cleaning requirements 
key successes
the high street retail network was mobilised 
in record time – nearly 1000 of the branches 
were made ready in just over six weeks we 
have also developed our own quality auditing 
system that uses the latest technology each 
account manager completes their monthly audit 
using a handheld device once the audit has 
been completed the realtime information sits 
on a secure website alongside other essential 
management information which can be 
accessed by all authorised stakeholders 
this is used extensively on each hbos site
we have also worked hard with hbos to develop 
an automated computer system which plays an 
important part in guaranteeing service delivery 
compliance across the contract in addition 
the system has the ability to address the issue of 
mitie’s people who work on their own often during 
unsociable hours allowing us to be sure of their 
whereabouts for health and safety reasons this 
system is unique and offers a real differentiation 
in the marketplace mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 17  18 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
chairman’s 
statement
i am delighted to announce that 
2008 has been another year of 
strong growth for mitie this year 
was our 20
th
 year of revenue and 
proﬁ ts growth
throughout the last year we have 
continued to forge new relationships 
and build on longterm partnerships 
with our clients and are delighted to 
welcome thousands of new people 
to mitie
we are now well positioned for 
the next stage in our development 
with an excellent management 
team and a well developed 
strategy in place targeting our 
three markets of facilities property 
and engineering services
results
mitie has had another excellent year  
with 145 growth in our revenue 
to £14072m 2007 £12288m 
operating proﬁ t before amortisation 
rose by 205 to £722m 2007 
£599m with proﬁ t before tax 
increasing by 200 to £679m 2007 
£566m adjusted earnings per share 
grew by 211 to 149p per share 
2007 123p per share underlying 
operating proﬁ t margins were 
maintained within our target range 
of 5–6 at 51 2007 51 whilst 
reported operating proﬁ t margins 
increased from 49 to 51
dividend
the board is recommending a 
ﬁ nal dividend of 32p per ordinary 
share making a total of 60p per 
share for the year  a 176 increase 
on 2007 this increase is in line with 
our dividend policy to maintain 
dividends in line with underlying 
earnings growth at a cover ratio 
of 25 times adjusted earnings
the dividend will be paid on 
4 august 2008 to shareholders 
on the register at 4 july 2008 
pensions
the group contributes to a range 
of deﬁ ned beneﬁ t and deﬁ ned 
contribution pension schemes i am 
pleased to report that the surplus 
within the deﬁ ned beneﬁ t schemes 
has continued this year with a net 
surplus of £75m 2007 £05m 
board changes 
this will be my last year as non
executive chairman of mitie as i 
will retire at the company’s annual 
general meeting agm on 31 july 
2008 i have thoroughly enjoyed the 
last six years with mitie i will leave the 
company in a very strong ﬁ nancial 
position and with excellent prospects 
to succeed in the future under the 
stewardship of roger matthews who 
will be appointed as nonexecutive 
chairman at the close of the agm 
roger has been a nonexecutive 
director since december 2006 and 
brings with him a wide range of skills 
and experience from his previous 
positions as group finance director of 
j sainsbury plc and group managing 
director and group finance director 
of compass group plc
cullum mcalpine who has been 
a nonexecutive director of mitie 
since april 2003 and is chairman 
of the audit committee and senior 
independent nonexecutive director  
will also retire from the board at 
the company’s agm i would like 
to thank cullum for his support to 
mitie and the board over the past 
ﬁ ve years
the following board changes will 
also take effect from 31 july 2008 
david jenkins will be appointed as 
senior independent nonexecutive 
director and chairman of the audit 
committee roger matthews will 
assume the chairmanship of the 
nomination committee 
the recruitment of a new non
executive director will commence 
during the year
corporate governance
we are committed to maintaining 
high standards of corporate 
governance the board recognises 
that mitie is expected to act to the 
highest standards of responsibility at 
all times and we therefore have in 
place a set of governance structures 
and practices designed to ensure 
that mitie is run responsibly in the best 
interests of all its stakeholders 
outlook
in this my last year as chairman 
of mitie i would like to wish the 
management team every success 
for the future we enter the new 
ﬁ nancial year with our business 
aligned to meet the needs of our 
ever changing markets current 
economic conditions are requiring 
businesses to reevaluate their cost 
base and to focus resource and 
attention on reducing risk and 
uncertainty in volatile markets this 
provides us with opportunities as 
organisations seek to reduce costs 
through outsourcing
we are conﬁ dent that we are well 
positioned to continue our strategy 
of delivering stakeholder value by 
focusing on sustainable proﬁ table 
growth through 2008 and beyond 
david c ord
chairman
business 
review mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 19 
“ mitie is well 
positioned to 
continue its 
history of 
strong growth”
david ord
nonexecutive chairman 20 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
ruby mcgregorsmith 
chief executive mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 21 
chief 
executive’s 
review
at the end of my ﬁ rst full year as 
chief executive i am delighted 
that we have continued our record 
of double digit growth increasing 
revenue by 145 in the year our 
operating proﬁ t before amortisation 
has increased by 205 and all three 
of our divisions have performed well 
enabling us to maintain our overall 
underlying operating proﬁ t margins 
within our target range at 51 
in order to deliver value to our 
stakeholders by delivering future 
sustainable growth we have spent 
the year ensuring that we are well 
placed to meet the needs of our 
ever changing markets
we have aligned our facilities 
services division to focus on growth 
in the fm and multiservice markets 
with the formation of our new 
fm business we are now able to 
compete for the larger fm contracts 
the business now provides us with 
a vehicle that has been created 
to really understand our clients’ fm 
needs and show how we can match 
them with mitie’s capabilities 
our property services division has 
been reorganised to align our 
specialist skills to the market place 
in which we operate we are 
intent on making each area of our 
business a truly national offering 
focusing on rooﬁ ng minor repairs 
and redecoration interior ﬁ tout 
plumbing and heating social 
housing and ﬁ re protection
our engineering services division has 
also been focusing on aligning the 
structure of the division with its three 
main markets energy technology 
and infrastructure and building 
services in the energy markets we 
offer a full energy management 
consultancy for our clients reducing 
their carbon footprints through 
renewable technologies and use of 
efﬁ cient materials the technology 
and infrastructure markets 
concentrate on providing information 
communications technology services 
ict as well as power generation and 
cooling solutions for data centres the 
building services market is the more 
traditional mechanical and electrical 
contracting arm of the business
we have had an excellent year and 
have delivered record results our 
business is focused on growth through 
its strength in integrated facilities 
property and engineering services 
we are conﬁ dent in our ability to 
make progress in this economic 
climate and there are positive trading 
conditions across all three divisions 
we have a record order book 
and are well positioned to deliver 
sustainable proﬁ table growth
order book
our forward order book has grown 
to £44bn 2007 £41bn 82 of this 
order book is within our facilities 
services division 11 within property 
services and 7 in engineering 
services this year  we have secured 
78 of our budgeted revenue for 
the year ending 31 march 2009 
compared to 75 at the same 
point last year 
acquisitions
we continue to seek to acquire 
businesses that complement or ﬁ t 
within our existing company and in 
2008 made three acquisitions in april 
2007 we acquired jabez holdings 
limited the holding company of the 
robert prettie plumbing business 
in march 2008 we completed 
the acquisitions of both catering 
partnership holdings limited and 
dw tilley limited
all three acquisitions complement 
our existing activities 
•  robert prettie is a nottingham
based business that works in 
partnership with local authorities 
councils developers and 
registered social landlords on 
kitchen and bathroom installations 
heating replacement gas 
servicing maintenance and 
callout services this acquisition 
has added signiﬁ cantly to the 
capabilities of our property services 
division in the housing sector and 
has complemented the existing 
regional operations 
“ we have realigned 
our divisions to 
meet the needs of 
our ever changing 
markets” 22 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
•  catering partnership holdings 
limited is a midlandsbased 
catering company the company 
complements the geographical 
coverage of our existing 
operations and 
•  dw tilley limited is a national 
rooﬁ ng contractor  based in 
the north east of england the 
company complements our 
existing property services division 
and provides us with a national 
rooﬁ ng capability
equity incentivisation
we continue to start new businesses 
and support ﬁ rst generation equity 
startups within mitie in october 
2007 we started mitie client services 
limited this business operates 
within the facilities services division 
and will provide clients with high 
quality client facing support services 
including reception switchboard 
helpdesk and events management 
as part of the development of 
our equity incentivisation model 
we have introduced a second 
generation equity scheme into 
some of our established businesses 
to provide an equity opportunity 
for the new management teams 
within those businesses whereby 
management share the risks and 
rewards of ownership
second generation schemes have 
been set up in our property services 
division and also in the cleaning 
landscaping and security businesses 
within our facilities services division 
the second generation scheme in 
our security business was introduced 
on 4 october 2007 following 
shareholder approval at an egm 
the introduction of this scheme 
is important for the successful 
development and consolidation 
of our security business which has 
grown rapidly particularly over the 
last two years 
our long term incentive plan ltip 
scheme was also introduced in july 
2007 following shareholder approval 
at the agm eps growth targets 
over three years form the basis of 
the performance criteria for the 
ltip  with shares being offered to a 
number of key senior management 
this scheme ensures that we have 
market leading reward mechanisms 
to attract the best management 
in our sector to mitie
market development
our markets have always been 
demanding and will continue to 
be so uncertainty in the general 
economy creates opportunity for 
mitie as customers seek innovation 
and fresh thinking from their service 
providers our relatively low market 
share range of services and 
integrated delivery makes us 
an attractive partner 
one way that customers are saving 
money and increasing efﬁ ciency 
is through enlarging the scope of 
facilities contracts the move towards 
larger multiservice and fm contracts 
provides us with opportunity due to 
our unrivalled range of services and 
wealth of knowledge 
the workplace environment is more 
demanding than ever for our clients 
issues such as waste and recycling 
energy management carbon 
footprint and throughlife cost asset 
management all demand forward 
thinking and integration into their 
strategic planning
mitie is well positioned to take 
advantage of these current 
markets and has the capability 
to provide integrated services 
through a measured and thought
out approach we can assist 
our clients by using the expertise 
developed within our business in 
these increasingly complex areas 
providing the thought needed to 
develop integrated solutions that 
understand the unique needs of 
each and every client
in our engineering markets we are 
ﬁ nding that clients are increasingly 
looking to award contracts on a 
framework basis the longterm 
visibility provided by a framework 
approach to workload allocation 
and the continued aggregation of 
the procurement philosophy of both 
public and private sector customers 
continues to work to mitie’s beneﬁ t 
we are well placed to take 
advantage of this shift in work type 
due to our substantial knowledge of 
key sectors our national capability 
and our expertise of renewable 
technologies
the engineering sector is also 
responding to new legislation in 
particular the requirement of energy 
certiﬁ cates for all buildings that 
are constructed sold rented or 
occupied the certiﬁ cates will show 
chief executive’s review
continued
mitie
£1407m
property services
£286m
engineering services
£301m
facilities services
£820m
facilities 
management
£136m
cleaning and 
environmental
£270m
security
£257m
engineering 
maintenance
£135m
catering
£22m
our business is structured to face the needs 
of our current and future markets mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 23 
how energy efﬁ cient a building is 
and how much co
2
 it emits into the 
atmosphere responsible contractors 
within this sector are providing the 
expertise and innovation to deal 
with this new requirement mitie has 
invested heavily in resources and 
is actively involved in the design 
and application of more efﬁ cient 
forms of energy generation and 
distribution to the built environment 
this commitment and investment 
ensures that our engineering services 
division is at the forefront when it 
comes to advising clients and the 
supply chain on planning regulations 
and requirements
our property services division 
continues to operate in diverse 
markets the acquisition of robert 
prettie provides us with the technical 
ability and expertise to create a 
service aimed at the wider housing 
market we believe this new 
offering will prove attractive to the 
sector and provide us with future 
sustainable organic growth the 
social housing market continues to 
afford us opportunities to increase 
our presence in this sector 
international services
mitie is the uk’s market leader in 
providing facilities property and 
engineering services as our markets 
are very fragmented we still only 
have a relatively small market 
share in the uk our primary focus 
remains on growing our uk business 
nevertheless we do have the 
capability to deliver contracts outside 
the uk when asked to do so by our 
increasingly global client base 
corporate responsibility cr
for us cr is about behaviour and 
attitude we aim to ensure that our 
cr programme involves every area 
of our business cr is undoubtedly 
a differentiator for us and has 
been cited as the deciding factor 
for some clients when awarding 
us contracts cr issues such as 
reducing the carbon footprint of 
buildings create opportunities for us 
as we have substantial experience in 
renewable energy technology and 
energy consultancy
this year we will publish our third cr 
report the report covers our cr 
programme in detail and expands 
upon the summary of our cr 
performance that is in this annual 
report and accounts we are proud 
of this year’s achievements including 
gaining a silver award scoring 815 
in business in the community’s 
corporate responsibility index 2007 
bronze award with 700 and 
featuring in the top 100 ‘companies 
that count’ for the second year 
in a row the index is a voluntary 
selfassessment survey providing 
an annual benchmark of how 
companies manage measure and 
report their corporate responsibility 
our greatest asset is our people
we continue to see our people as 
being our greatest and most valued 
asset without their commitment 
and hard work mitie would not be 
successful so i would like to thank 
personally all of our people for their 
efforts over the last 12 months 
we have always recognised and 
promoted success within mitie and 
this year have launched a new 
recognition scheme called mitie 
stars the new scheme will be a 
key tool in recognising excellence 
within mitie helping us to drive 
performance improvement and 
support the need for consistency 
across the organisation
in mitie our success has been built 
on the strength of our teams it 
is unusual for us to single out the 
contribution of one individual but on 
this occasion i would like to extend 
my personal thanks and those of the 
board to david ord who will step 
down as nonexecutive chairman 
of mitie following our agm in july 
2008 david has been instrumental in 
supporting the development of the 
group since his appointment and i 
wish him every success in the future
ruby mcgregorsmith
chief executive
rewarding our stars
we have launched a new employee 
awards scheme across mitie in order 
to give something back in return for all 
their energy and commitment it’s called 
the mitie stars awards scheme and it 
will make sure that the most important 
part of our business is recognised and 
rewarded – our people the overall 
winner will take home more than £25000 
worth in prizes from a total prize fund of 
more than £100000 24 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
we ensure 
cw’s systems 
work smoothly
cable  wireless
in july 2007 we were awarded the 
contract to maintain the mechanical 
and electrical infrastructure for 725 cable 
 wireless sites across the uk the high 
technical and performance requirements 
of the contract sees almost 80 dedicated 
mitie people working to make sure 
cable  wireless’ systems run smoothly 
our solution offers a dedicated mobile 
maintenance team supported by ﬂ exible 
backup engineers from our regional 
service centres this has combined 
with our 247 intelligent helpdesk at 
our tamworth service centre offering 
technical engineer support and response 
services to increase the response times 
and adherence to kpis mitie has 
expanded its relationship to provide a 
facilities management service delivering 
cleaning ofﬁ ce services helpdesk and 
other ancillary services to their uk and 
ireland estate including their bracknell hq 
and other locations around the country mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 25 
operating 
review
facilities 
services
our facilities services division 
combines the operating activities 
of our broad range of fm services 
the division has had a good year 
with new contract awards across the 
division increasing revenue by 121 
to £8204m 2007 £7321m and 
operating proﬁ t growing by 178 
to £489m 2007 £415m reported 
operating proﬁ t margins increased 
by 03 to 60 2007 57 whilst 
underlying operating proﬁ t margins 
were maintained at 60 2007 
60 our mediumterm target 
range for this division is 60 to 70
within facilities services this year  we 
have had a focus on consolidation 
which will allow our businesses to 
work together more easily and assist 
them in delivering effective multi
service and fm contracts going 
forward we now recognise ﬁ ve 
business lines as follows cleaning 
and environmental services which 
encompasses the cleaning 
landscaping and pest control 
businesses with revenues this year of 
£2696m 2007 £2369m facilities 
management which comprises the 
managed services business services 
and pfi businesses which had 
revenues of £1364m 2007 £1240m 
security with revenue of £2574m 
2007 £2418m engineering 
maintenance with revenue of 
£1352m 2007 £1097m and 
catering with revenue of £218m 
2007 £197m
we set out below a range of 
contract awards
within the government sector we 
have been awarded a ﬁ veyear 
contract to provide an fm solution 
for the ofﬁ ce for national statistics 
delivering project management 
services as well as a full solution to 
provide facilities services for their 
uk estate
we have also recently been 
awarded a large contract with the 
atomic weapons establishment to 
provide security services where our 
team will be under the operational 
and tactical control of the mod 
police to manage access and 
egress at their aldermaston and 
burghﬁ eld sites
our national contract with her 
majesty’s courts service to provide 
security services continues to 
expand with additional revenue 
secured in the last ﬁ nancial year 
this enlarged contract is the largest 
single manned guarding contract 
in the uk security industry
our focus on the education sector 
has enabled us to win several 
new cleaning contracts with 
carnegie college in fife and 
both stevenson college and the 
new queen margaret university 
campus in edinburgh 
we have secured a key role in perth 
and kinross council’s investment in 
learning project – a public private 
partnership agreement between 
perth and kinross council and axiom 
education perth and kinross limited 
to build ﬁ ve new primary schools 
and four secondary schools on six 
campus style sites we have been 
appointed as the fm partner to 
deliver a comprehensive fm service 
for a 30year period 
our contract awards in the ﬁ nancial 
and professional services sector 
include a major new contract with 
barclays to provide cleaning security 
and waste management services at 
more than 50 of their main buildings 
around the country
we have extended our existing 
contract with willis to deliver facilities 
services to the new willis tower 
building in the city which willis 
moved into in february 2008 mitie 
will deliver all the cleaning and 
security services on this site which 
is 330000 sq ft in size with 2000 
occupants from spring 2008 
 
 2008 2007 increase
 £m £m 
revenue  8204 7321 121
operating 
proﬁ t before 
amortisation 489 415 178
reported 
operating proﬁ t 
margin before 
amortisation 60 57 03pps
underlying
operating proﬁ t 
margin before 
amortisation 60 60 –
“ we provide the 
thinking behind 
integrated 
solutions” 26 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
mitie has also recently been 
awarded a contract with newedge 
a company formed by the 
amalgamation of the brokerage 
businesses of calyon and société 
générale the new contract is 
for mitie to deliver a multiservice 
package of mail and courier 
services as well as front of house 
services hospitality and café trolley 
services for their 750 staff
in addition to the contract with 
hbos to provide the cleaning 
landscaping and pest control to their 
highstreet branches around the uk 
which started in february 2007 we 
have now extended our contract 
to provide these services to a further 
130 of their major ofﬁ ce sites around 
the country the contract has 
doubled in value and now involves 
over 2000 mitie people 
another valued contract award 
for mitie was with the top ﬁ ve 
international law ﬁ rm linklaters 
having been a client since may 
2001 and having already renewed 
once in 2004 we are very pleased 
that the contract was extended 
for a third period in a recent tender 
exercise mitie provides 38 people 
delivering mail and archiving 
services in london and colchester 
we also provide several technology 
solutions on site our document 
management business was recently 
awarded an exciting new ﬁ ve
year contract with herbert smith 
delivering mailroom stationery 
reprographics and records 
management services to their ofﬁ ces 
in london 
in the manufacturing and logistics 
sector mitie has been awarded 
a specialist health and hygiene 
contract to clean the fox’s biscuits 
site part of northern foods 
working in the property 
management sector we have been 
awarded a major contract with 
nb entrust to deliver cleaning pest 
control and landscaping to 150 sites 
in the south east as well as delivering 
the same services along with security 
and engineering maintenance to a 
further 70 sites in the south west 
within the retail sector we have 
been awarded work at more 
somerﬁ eld stores to add to our 
cleaning contract in the south east 
in the transport sector we have 
secured a prestigious threeyear 
contract to deliver fm consultancy 
services to dubai world central 
dwc dwc is one of the most 
strategically important commercial 
infrastructure developments ever 
launched in the persian gulf 
dwc a 140km
2
 urban aviation 
project centred on the world’s 
largest international airport aims to 
transform the region into one of the 
most powerful global centres for 
logistics tourism and commerce
another great award is with st 
pancras international a ﬂ agship 
contract for our specialist transport 
team which includes cleaning and 
pest control 
in may 2007 mitie’s specialist 
transport security team was 
reawarded a threeyear 
contract for the provision of hold 
baggage screening services for 
all ﬂ ights departing from bristol 
international airport
mitie has also been awarded a 
contract with baa at heathrow 
terminal 5 providing cleaning and 
waste management for one of the 
largest single sites in europe 
in the utilities sector we have 
been awarded contracts with 
edf energy to clean two power 
stations in lincolnshire as well 
as a new contract with british 
nuclear group involving over 
55 mitie people providing mail 
graphics reprographics document 
production ﬂ eet technical support 
and signage services 
in addition to the work secured 
earlier in the year with cable  
wireless to deliver engineering 
maintenance services throughout 
725 of their sites in the uk and 
ireland mitie has expanded its 
relationship to provide an fm service 
delivering cleaning ofﬁ ce services 
helpdesk and other ancillary services 
to their uk and ireland estate 
including their bracknell hq
contract types within 
facilities services 
08 07 08 07
62
60
24
24
08 07
14
16
single 
service
multi
service
facilities
management
“ facilities 
services has 
seen increased 
opportunities”
facilities services 
continued mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 27 
 st pancras is 
a ﬂ agship award 
for us in the
transport sector
st pancras
in september 2007 mitie was awarded 
the cleaning waste management and 
pest control contract to look after st 
pancras international and ebbsﬂ eet 
international the contract incorporates 
the eurostar platforms and departure 
arrival and security areas  28 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
our social 
housing work 
makes a real
difference
dacorum borough council
the tenants of dacorum borough 
council’s housing service are receiving a 
new and improved repairs service to help 
maintain their homes thanks to a new 
ﬁ veyear contract with mitie 
mitie now provides all of the repairs 
and maintenance to the council’s 
11000 homes in hemel hempstead 
berkhamsted tring and the 
surrounding villages mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 29 
property 
services
our property services division 
has had a very successful year 
with good performance in all of 
its services lines with particularly 
pleasing results from robert prettie 
the heating and plumbing business 
that was acquired in april 2007 
property services has increased 
revenue by 328 to £2857m 
2007 £2151m reﬂ ecting organic 
growth of 100 and revenue 
of £491m from robert prettie 
operating proﬁ t grew by 415 
to £150m 2007 £106m and 
operating margins by 04 to 
53 2007 49 our mediumterm 
target range for this division is 45 
to 50
we have included some of the 
contract awards that have 
contributed to these successful 
results below
in the government sector we 
have been awarded a fouryear 
contract with suffolk county council 
to provide painting repairs and 
redecoration of public buildings 
contracts awarded in the education 
sector include a ﬁ veyear repair 
and maintenance contract with 
sanctuary management services 
at queen margaret university in 
edinburgh and a contract with the 
university of westminster to refurbish 
an education block using our 
specialist environmental knowledge 
we are also installing underﬂ oor 
heating and solar hot water at a 
newbuild school in shefﬁ eld for 
tilen electrics
we have been awarded several 
new contracts within the ﬁ nancial 
and professional services sector 
including a contract with a leading 
investment bank situated within the 
city of london to ﬁ tout 25000 sq ft 
of ofﬁ ce space for them at pinners 
hall in london and a contract for 
bank of ireland to ﬁ tout its prestigious 
new headquarters at bow bells 
house located in ec4
in manufacturing and logistics we 
have been awarded a ﬁ veyear 
contract with royal mail to provide 
responsive maintenance to their 
post ofﬁ ces and delivery ofﬁ ces 
throughout scotland as well as a 
25week contract to replace the 
roof of siemens’ main manufacturing 
plant in cheshire
within the property management 
and construction sectors we have 
won a further refurbishment contract 
with frank haslam milan in derbyshire 
where we will be plastering sheltered 
accommodation for landlord 
housing 21 taylor wimpey has also 
awarded us a contract to install 
heating and plumbing in over 500 
homes across the west midlands
other work includes a contract with 
bramall construction to provide 
kitchen bathroom and heating 
refurbishment in nearly 500 properties 
in shefﬁ eld as well as a contract with 
wildgoose construction limited in 
shefﬁ eld for the installation of solar 
powered hot water in 47 ecological 
homes we have been awarded a 
contract to provide plumbing and 
heating installations in nearly 500 
homes for bellway homes in north 
nottinghamshire as part of a ﬁ ve
year regeneration project 
we have secured several 
refurbishment contracts with 
property companies including a 
44week refurbishment of ofﬁ ce 
space for helical bar plc in london 
as well as a contract to refurbish 
bruntwood’s ofﬁ ce space in bootle
we have had a good year in the 
social housing sector securing 
a new ﬁ veyear contract with 
dacorum borough council to 
provide all of the repairs and 
maintenance to the council’s 
11000 homes in hemel hempstead 
berkhamsted tring and the 
surrounding villages in scotland we 
have secured a threeyear contract 
with hillhead housing association 
and perthshire housing association 
to provide repairs and maintenance 
services we have also provided 
hyde housing association with 
internal and external decoration 
to over 300 of their properties
we have secured work comprising 
two tenmonth contracts for flagship 
housing group in newmarket to 
provide internal refurbishment 
and redecoration
in addition to these great contract 
awards our specialist teams will 
be spending ﬁ ve years painting 
and redecorating all 2400 of trust 
housing association’s homes across 
the country and also working for 
fife housing association on a one
year internal and external planned 
maintenance contract
within the transport sector we 
have secured a further ﬁ vemonth 
contract for passive ﬁ re protection 
at heathrow terminal 5 and in the 
utilities sector we are carrying out 
a fouryear contract with bt to 
upgrade telephone exchanges 
in the north and south of england 
and in scotland
 
 2008 2007 increase
 £m £m 
revenue  2857 2151 328
operating 
proﬁ t before 
amortisation 150 106 415
operating proﬁ t 
margin before 
amortisation 53 49 04pps 30 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
engineering 
services
we have seen steady growth in our 
engineering services division as the 
business transitions to a lower risk 
work mix contract awards have 
increased revenues in the division 
by 69 to £3011m 2007 £2816m 
with operating proﬁ t also increasing 
by 64 to £83m 2007 £78m 
operating margins were maintained 
at 28 2007 28 our medium
term target range for this division is 
30 to 40 
our engineering team’s traditional 
work is evolving to meet the 
changing requirements of our 
customer base new government 
legislation promotes onsite 
energy generation in newbuild 
developments and reduction in 
carbon emissions through the use of 
green technologies our new energy 
offering in these areas makes us an 
even more attractive partner in the 
marketplace this is reﬂ ected in some 
of our latest contract awards
in the government sector we 
have been awarded a contract 
with the national assembly for 
wales’ regional headquarters in 
aberystwyth work has started on 
the project with staff set to occupy 
the building in spring 2009 the 
contract is for mechanical and 
electrical works and includes many 
environmentally friendly features 
such as a biomass boiler  ammonia 
chillers rainwater harvesting 
natural ventilation and controls 
solar panels quietrevolution wind 
turbine cooling pond and intelligent 
lighting the aim will be to achieve 
a building research establishment 
environmental assessment method 
breeam rating of excellent
as part of our work in the education 
sector we have been awarded 
some great new contracts including 
a design and build contract for 
university campus suffolk the 
newbuild campus development in 
ipswich sees us integrated straight 
into the project team to develop 
the platform design and ensure the 
client’s vision is fully realised works 
include aircooled chiller plant with 
heat recovery chilled beams and a 
sophisticated lighting control system 
harvesting sunlight on bright days 
the building also features a sedum or 
‘living’ roof which provides a really 
natural feel to the campus
mitie continues to build on its strong 
relationship with the university of 
bristol with the award of a combined 
heat and power chp and waste 
heat recovery project at the 
university’s langford veterinary 
campus the project includes both 
the supply and installation of a 
containerised chp unit with 380kw 
electrical and 500kw heat output as 
well as the provision of infrastructure 
works at the university the 
proposed development will create 
over £50m of educational and 
research facilities and laboratories 
for the biological sciences and 
mathematics departments 
we have been awarded the 
contract on the newbuild melksham 
oak community school in wiltshire 
to provide the mechanical and 
electrical engineering the school is 
part of the building schools for the 
future ‘pathﬁ nder’ programme 
mitie’s design concepts for the 
school include good quality internal 
environment simple user friendly 
systems low energy and capital 
costs minimising co
2 
emissions while 
applying value engineering where 
possible it will feature energy efﬁ cient 
heating and lighting together with 
rainwater harvesting and night time 
cooling there will also be a focus 
on providing a natural environment 
for learning centred on a natural 
ventilation strategy
we have continued to build on 
our relationship with standard 
life investments in the ﬁ nancial 
and professional services sector 
offering an integrated approach 
to provide the engineering ﬁ t
out and maintenance this has 
resulted in us securing three 
newbuild projects with them in 
guildford ealing and london 
the woodbridge road project in 
guildford sees us utilise geothermal 
energy generating 137mwh of 
renewable energy for the building 
our commitment to partnering and 
substantial knowledge of renewable 
technologies was instrumental in 
securing this contract
we have secured further 
infrastructure works at great 
ormond street hospital in the 
healthcare sector following our 
excellent performance as principal 
contractor on the initial project 
that was completed in october 
2007 the hospital’s redevelopment 
programme continues through to 
2012 and our strong relationship with 
the hospital and their team means 
we are well placed for future works
in the leisure sector we have 
continued our relationship with 
the world famous the langham 
hotel london by recently securing 
two major projects running 
concurrently these are the 
public area works which consist 
of a complete mechanical and 
electrical refurbishment in all public 
areas including the main entrance 
and function rooms the other 
project is the guest room ﬁ tout 
of 161 rooms which will be taking 
place in the occupied hotel over the 
next year 
in the property management sector 
our recent award at easter park 
aldermaston allows us to exploit our 
indepth knowledge of geothermal 
technology satisfying the client’s 
objective to create ‘green’ ofﬁ ce 
space for this newbuild business 
park development near reading 
the contract includes the design 
build and installation of closed loop 
boreﬁ elds and a ground source heat 
pump system
 
 2008 2007 increase
 £m £m 
revenue  3011 2816 69
operating 
proﬁ t before
amortisation 83 78 64
operating proﬁ t 
margin before
amortisation 28 28 – mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 31 
other recent contracts include 
salt quay house a new ofﬁ ce 
development at sutton harbour  
plymouth which meets the latest 
environmental standards and 
includes energy saving initiatives 
such as airconditioning using latest 
generation heat recovery pumps 
with thermal wheel air handling units 
to maximise free cooling
our work in the science and 
technology sector has grown by 
securing a major infrastructure 
upgrade project in may 2007 with 
one of the world’s largest providers 
of data centre space the project 
located in london’s docklands 
area is now our largest engineering 
contract and consists of the 
construction of two new power 
stations upgrade of an existing 
power station and the increase in 
the cooling capacity to the data 
centre ﬂ oors
the completion and integration 
of the mitie project works into the 
existing data centre infrastructure will 
provide the client with an increased 
capacity and increased resilience 
to the building this will enable 
additional space to be sold on the 
ﬂ oors and will underpin the current 
and future service level agreements
we have also formed an exciting 
partnership with the wind turbine 
design company quietrevolution to 
install and integrate its wind turbines 
across the uk mitie has incorporated 
the use of these turbines as an 
essential component within many of 
our low carbon schemes including 
the national assembly for wales 
and this product forms an integral 
part of engineering services’ new 
microgeneration energy offering
according to an energy saving trust 
report it is estimated that small scale 
wind generation together with other 
forms of microgeneration could 
provide 30–40 of the uk’s electricity 
needs by 2050
another notable contract award 
is our appointment onto the 
framework contract for diamond 
light source at its new scientiﬁ c 
facility in oxfordshire the contract 
initially for three years will see 
engineering services acting 
as principal contractor for the 
installation of beamline cabins 
including mechanical electrical 
and specialist services 
standard life investments
standard life investments has partnered 
with mitie to build a new stateoftheart 
ofﬁ ce complex in guildford our energy 
experts have proposed an energy solution 
based upon the use of geothermal 
energy as its heat source mitie will also 
be carrying out the interior ﬁ tout of 
the building and the mechanical and 
electrical maintenance  32 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
suzanne baxter 
group finance director mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 33 
financial review
our ﬁ nancial results for the year 
reﬂ ect continuing growth across 
all of our three divisions with an 
improved reported margin helping 
to deliver strong growth in proﬁ ts 
our strategy of making acquisitions 
which complement and strengthen 
the existing service offerings 
continues with three acquisitions 
made during the year
key performance indicators 
kpis
our ﬁ nancial kpis of proﬁ t margins 
before the amortisation of 
intangibles interest and tax ebita 
and proﬁ t to cash conversion 
levels are important indicators of 
the trading performance of the 
group we are satisﬁ ed that the 
levels of performance in these 
measures across the group are 
consistent with our mediumterm 
targets furthermore our strategy 
of operating low capital intensive 
businesses continues and capital 
expenditure levels are being 
managed within the target range 
of less than 2 of revenue
our results support the continued 
growth in dividends our dividend 
is based on post tax earnings 
attributable to ordinary shareholders 
adjusted to exclude noncash 
items associated with acquisitions 
amortisation and imputed ﬁ nance 
charges and material nonrecurring 
items such as integration costs this 
ensures that dividend payments to 
shareholders track the underlying 
operating earnings of our business 
this has resulted in a dividend for 
the full year of 60p per share 2007 
51p an increase of 176 for the 
year this reﬂ ects a dividend cover of 
25 times based on our adjusted eps 
measure our ﬁ nal dividend for the 
year ended 31 march 2008 will be 
paid on 4 august 2008
growth in revenue
the year to 31 march 2008 has 
seen growth across all three of 
our divisions and our revenue has 
increased by 145 to £14072m 
2007 £12288m we have 
achieved organic growth across the 
business of 104 2007 174 the 
acquisition of robert prettie which 
was completed on 2 april 2007 has 
brought a further £491m of revenues 
to the group
revenue in our facilities services 
division grew organically by 121 
to £8204m 2007 £7321m in 
property services revenue grew by 
328 to £2857m 2007 £2151m 
reﬂ ecting organic growth of 100 
and revenue of £491m from robert 
prettie in engineering services 
controlled organic growth increased 
revenue by 69 to £3011m 2007 
£2816m reﬂ ecting the continued 
focus on sustainable growth
proﬁ tability
operating proﬁ t before amortisation 
of intangibles ebita rose to £722m 
2007 £599m this includes a 
charge for sharebased payments 
of £15m 2007 £11m which 
reﬂ ects the accounting charges 
in respect of our save as you earn 
executive share option and long 
term incentive plan schemes 
the increase in the sharebased 
payment charge reﬂ ects the 
introduction of the ltip in july 2007 
following shareholder approval at 
the agm 
reported ebita proﬁ t margin 
increased to 51 2007 49 
underlying margins were maintained 
at 51 2007 51 the reported 
operating proﬁ t margins within 
facilities services were 60 2007 
57 whilst underlying proﬁ t margins 
before material integration costs 
in 2007 remained at 60 in 
property services margins increased 
to 53 2007 49 reﬂ ecting the 
change in the mix of work following 
the robert prettie acquisition 
engineering services’ margins remain 
consistent with the prior year at 28 
2007 28
“ strong balance 
sheet and a net 
pensions surplus” 34 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
the charge in respect of the 
amortisation of intangible assets 
arising on acquisitions was £19m 
2007 £16m the increase is 
largely due to the amortisation of 
the intangible assets recognised 
following the robert prettie 
acquisition operating proﬁ t after 
the amortisation of intangibles was 
£703m 2007 £583m 
investment and ﬁ nance costs for 
the year were £24m 2007 £17m 
reﬂ ecting the increased level of net 
debt across the group and the 
noncash ﬁ nance charge of 
£08m 2007 £nil relating to the 
unwinding of the discount on 
deferred contingent consideration 
in respect of the purchase of robert 
prettie at the beginning of the 
year the group also settled in cash 
the deferred consideration which 
had previously been held as loan 
notes amounting to £80m on two 
prior acquisitions as detailed in the 
acquisitions section below
the tax charge for the year was 
£206m 2007 £174m representing 
an effective rate of tax on our proﬁ t 
on continuing operations of 303 
2007 307 
these results generated a proﬁ t 
after tax for the year of £473m 
2007 £392m an increase of 207 
on the prior year of this £450m 
or 951 2007 £370m 944 is 
attributable to the shareholders 
of mitie group plc
growth in earnings per share 
eps
basic eps before other items 
increased by 211 to 149p per share 
2007 123p per share basic eps 
before amortisation rose by 195 
to 147p per share 2007 123p per 
share basic eps increased to 143p 
per share 2007 119p per share an 
increase of 202 fully diluted eps 
increased by 195 to 141p per share 
2007 118p per share
we have intentionally changed the 
format of our published consolidated 
income statement to disclose the 
impact of noncash items relating 
to acquisitions – amortisation and 
unwinding of discount on deferred 
contingent consideration in 
keeping with the mitie ethos we 
aim to structure acquisitions which 
encourage business performance 
through deferred contingent 
consideration this is discounted in 
the balance sheet and unwinds 
through ﬁ nance costs in the 
consolidated income statement 
the amount included this year was 
£08m 2007 £nil and has impacted 
headline eps disclosure this year
acquisitions 
in april 2007 we acquired 
the plumbing and heating 
company robert prettie the initial 
consideration was £86m of which 
£70m was in cash and £16m in 
loan notes a total of £08m of 
cash has been retained against 
potential warranty claims debt of 
£37m was assumed by mitie on the 
acquisition deferred consideration 
on the acquisition up to a maximum 
£228m is payable in a combination 
of loan notes and cash based on 
performance over a threeyear 
period the deferred consideration 
can be triggered between 2010 and 
2012 the fair value of the deferred 
consideration on the acquisition of 
£153m is included within provisions in 
the consolidated balance sheet 
in march 2008 mitie completed the 
acquisition of the entire issued share 
capital of both catering partnership 
holdings limited and dw tilley 
limited 
the fair value of the total expected 
consideration payable for catering 
partnership holdings limited is 
£75m with initial consideration of 
£66m paid in cash on completion 
deferred consideration of up 
to £23m payable in cash is 
dependent on the future ﬁ nancial 
performance of the acquired 
business and is included within 
provisions in the consolidated 
balance sheet 
the fair value of the total 
consideration expected to be 
paid for dw tilley limited is £147m 
initial consideration of £75m for 
the equity of the company and 
£36m for the cash balances in 
the company was paid in cash on 
completion deferred consideration 
of up to £50m payable in cash is 
dependent on the future ﬁ nancial 
financial highlights  2008 2007 increase
 £m £m 
revenue 14072 12288 145
operating proﬁ t before amortisation of intangibles  722 599 205
amortisation of intangibles 19 16 
 703 583 206
net investment revenue and ﬁ nance cost 24 17 
proﬁ t before tax 679 566 200
tax 206 174 
 473 392 207
effective tax rate on continuing operations 303 307 
basic eps before other items  149p 123p 211
basic eps 143p 119p 202
dividend per share 60p 51p 176
financial review
continued mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 35 
performance of the acquired 
business and is included within 
provisions in the consolidated 
balance sheet
the group also acquired some or 
all of the minority interests in the 
equity share capital of seven of 
its subsidiaries the total maximum 
consideration payable in respect 
of those acquisitions is £81m the 
consideration was largely settled by 
the issue of new mitie shares
in august 2007 the group also 
settled deferred consideration of 
£02m in respect of the purchase last 
year of the minority shareholding 
in mitie engineering maintenance 
south west limited this was settled 
by the issue of new mitie shares 
the total number of mitie group 
plc shares issued in respect of these 
transactions was 24m
other acquisition related 
transactions include the redemption 
in cash of £80m of loan notes 
issued in respect of the deferred 
consideration for the acquisition 
of mitie security london limited 
formerly mitie trident security 
limited of £70m and the watch 
security limited of £10m 
pensions
the group contributes to a range 
of deﬁ ned beneﬁ t and deﬁ ned 
contribution pension schemes in 
addition mitie makes contributions 
to its customers’ deﬁ ned beneﬁ t 
pension schemes under admitted 
body local government and other 
arrangements in respect of certain 
employees who have transferred 
to the group under tupe the net 
surplus before tax included in the 
group’s balance sheet arising from 
these pension schemes was £75m 
2007 £05m 
cash ﬂ ow
the underlying cash ﬂ ow 
performance of the group remains 
strong with the conversion of ebitda 
to cash of 903 2007 1144 
the prior year ebitda conversion 
of 1144 was particularly high 
due to oneoff shortterm timing 
differences at march 2007 the 
average cash conversion over the 
past two years was 1013 reﬂ ecting 
strong cash ﬂ ow performance 
well in line with our current kpi of 
conversion above 900 
at 31 march 2008 the net debt of 
the group was £156m 2007 £81m 
with loans of £50m being drawn 
at that time 2007 £20m deposits 
held by the group’s reinsurance 
subsidiary which are not readily 
available to the group totalled 
£124m at 31 march 2008 
2007 £103m
group treasury has responsibility for 
managing and reducing ﬁ nancial 
risks and ensuring sufﬁ cient liquidity 
is available to meet foreseeable 
needs it operates within policies and 
procedures approved by the board 
which have not changed during 
the year borrowings are arranged 
centrally by group treasury and 
made available to operating 
subsidiaries on commercial terms 
the board’s ongoing policy is to 
ﬁ nance the group through retained 
earnings and borrowings
during the year the group 
renegotiated its existing banking 
facility which was established during 
the previous year it extended 
its committed ﬁ veyear £150m 
revolving credit facility to £230m 
the principal covenants in respect of 
this facility remained the same and 
put a cap on the maximum level of 
debt within the group at 35 times 
ebitda and require a minimum ratio 
of proﬁ t to interest payable of 31 
the group has operated within these 
covenants throughout the year
share buyback
while mitie did not buy back any 
shares in the past ﬁ nancial year  we 
will be seeking shareholder approval 
to renew the authority to purchase 
up to 100 of the mitie group plc’s 
issued share capital at our next 
agm on 31 july 2008 this authority 
will provide the directors with the 
ﬂ exibility to take advantage of 
business opportunities as they arise
suzanne baxter
group finance director
“ our results 
support the 
continued growth 
in dividends” 36 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
corporate 
responsibility
at mitie we are committed to the 
operation of a responsible business 
model and to the delivery of our 
cr strategy for us it makes sound 
business sense 
we have consciously structured our 
programme with an emphasis on 
the development of skills and the 
environment as an employer of 
over 49000 people working in the 
built environment these two areas 
are particularly important to us and 
have helped to shape our activities 
and business model to meet the 
ever changing demands of our 
markets and our stakeholders
every year we set challenging 
targets to drive our business forward 
our ambitions in cr are no different 
we have the same passionate 
commitment to protecting our 
people enhancing our workplaces 
our communities our marketplaces 
and the environments in which we 
all work
mitie endorses the business for 
social responsibility deﬁ nition 
of corporate responsibility as 
‘achieving commercial success in 
ways that honour ethical values 
and respect people communities 
and the natural environment’  this 
year  by working closely with our 
stakeholders to improve our cr 
policies practices and procedures 
we managed to continue our 
success in improving our cr 
performance and achieved an 
overall score of 815 2007 700 in 
the business in the community bitc 
cr index for the second year in a 
row we are featured as one of the 
top 100 ‘companies that count’ 
for companies who completed 
the bitc cr index we’re pleased 
to announce that this year  mitie 
has improved on its bronze award 
last year and is now listed in the 
‘silver’ section of the ‘companies 
that count’ survey published in the 
sunday times in may 2008
this year we have again published 
a separate cr report which will be 
issued to all of our shareholders the 
report provides more detail on our 
cr activity and related performance 
measures during the year
health and safety
the health and safety of our people 
is of principal importance for us at 
mitie we set high standards and 
we expect everyone to play their 
part in maintaining them mitie has 
a team of over 60 dedicated health 
and safety professionals working 
in our business engaged in formal 
programmes to improve our health 
and safety performance across our 
business on an ongoing basis 
as a company of worldclass people 
delivering worldclass services we 
have an extensive range of training 
programmes available to all our 
people including over 25 health 
and safety training courses in the 
year over 2000 people successfully 
completed these courses that 
included working safely managing 
safely management of work at 
height and safe driving 
the results of our efforts are there 
to see in addition to the positive 
feedback we have had from our 
employee surveys we achieved a 
23 reduction in major injuries during 
the year  with a 22 reduction in the 
reportable incident rate regrettably 
we received four enforcement 
notices during the year and we 
have put in place remedial actions 
to address the issues raised and learn 
the lessons across the group
we have now held four health 
awareness days at our ofﬁ ces 
across the uk giving our people 
access to medical information and 
advice at work they can have a 
full checkup onsite during working 
hours including body mass index 
cholesterol checks diabetes test 
and lung capacity testing 
during the year we increased 
our focus on teleconferencing 
car pooling and public transport 
as ways to cut down our ﬂ eet’s 
carbon emissions and reduce 
the risks to our people from driving 
related incidents that said driving 
will always be a necessary part 
of our business especially for our 
emergency response vehicles 
however  there is still a great deal 
we can do to make it as safe and 
efﬁ cient as possible
one way we’re doing this is through 
the governmentbacked safe and 
fuel efﬁ cient driving scheme or 
safed some of our people have 
now attended this course which 
gives them tips on safer and more 
environmentally friendly driving 
workplace
as a people business we treat every 
one of our 49505 people who work 
for us with respect we’re passionate 
about helping our people reach 
their full potential because the 
more successful they are the more 
successful we are we ensure they 
have the skills training and support 
they need to excel and a fair  
equal and responsible environment 
to work in 
training is important for everyone at 
every stage of their career we offer 
an integrated career and personal 
development programme to all 
levels of our workforce last year 
over 21000 mitie people undertook 
one or more of our wide range 
of training courses furthermore 
since the start of our relationship 
with the institute of leadership and 
management ilm in april 2006 
almost 1000 mitie people have 
completed ilm courses including 
ilm level 2 in team leading ilm 
level 3 in first line management 
and ilm level 5 in management  mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 37 
“ alternative 
energy is a key 
ingredient in 
our low carbon 
schemes”
quietrevolution
we have now made quietrevolution 
turbines a key component of many of 
our low carbon schemes and an integral 
part of our engineering services division’s 
new microgeneration offering in the 
past many wind generation schemes 
were often refused planning permission 
because of noise vibration or the 
impact on their surroundings however  
quietrevolution’s designs have managed 
to deal with almost all of these objections 
which is why so many local councils 
across the uk recommend them for small
scale urban wind generators
quietrevolution turbines are virtually 
silent and can generate 10000kwh a 
year  equivalent to 10 of the energy 
requirements of a 600m
2
 ofﬁ ce building 
in the uk this is equivalent to displacing 
4000–6000kg of annual co
2
 emissions 
associated with gridgenerated electricity 38 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
we have also developed our in
house navigator men’s personal 
development programme and 
springboard women’s personal 
development programme which 
were launched in april 2007 these 
programmes have been speciﬁ cally 
developed for nonmanagerial 
people and give advice on a wide 
range of issues both in and out of the 
workplace from getting a promotion 
to building selfconﬁ dence coming 
out of the programme candidates 
moved forward with their action 
plans and were offered individual 
trained mentors to support their 
future development 
on 14 june 2007 mitie became one 
of the ﬁ rst employers to make the uk 
government skills pledge – a speciﬁ c 
and voluntary promise made by 
an employer to its employees that 
every eligible member of staff will 
be helped to gain basic literacy 
and numeracy skills and a full level 
2 qualiﬁ cation equal to ﬁ ve gcses 
at a– c speaking at the launch 
last year gordon brown said ‘in 
the future skills will be the only 
route to prosperity and jobs’ our 
commitment to the skills pledge is 
a key part of our strategy we will 
only deliver worldclass services if 
we have skilled competent and 
able people who can seize all the 
opportunities offered to them
signing up to the skills pledge gives 
us the opportunity to demonstrate 
publicly the importance mitie places 
on investing in the skills of our people 
mitie’s commitment to developing 
a better skilled and qualiﬁ ed 
workforce beneﬁ ts our business’ 
competitive advantage as well as 
aiding the training development 
and employability requirements of 
our people
our awardwinning real apprentice 
scheme is now in its third year 
corporate responsibility
continued 
going the extra mile
mitie’s stephanie winn ﬁ nishing this year’s 
london marathon her sponsorship donation 
for great ormond street hospital along 
with all other money raised for our regional 
charities was matchfunded by mitie mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 39 
“ over 1000 students 
have beneﬁ ted 
from our ‘world of 
work’ days”
and we’re pleased to announce 
that it’s just received big tick re
accreditation for 2008 in the last 
three years the scheme has won 
prestigious big tick excellence 
awards the 2006 pfm partners with 
people award and the greater 
london training award the 59
th
 
apprentice to go through the 
programme has recently been 
offered a fulltime job with us and 
29 young people found work with 
mitie in london last year  the highest 
number so far
marketplace
we know that selecting the right 
suppliers and subcontractors is a 
key way to reduce business risk and 
improve performance in fact we 
see our suppliers as partners in our 
own success and we demand the 
same standards from those partners 
that we observe ourselves
in 2007 we set up a new supplier 
improvement programme to ensure 
that our main suppliers are aligned 
with our cr principles and apply 
‘downstream accountability’ in their 
own supply chains our partnering 
relationship with national building 
products supplier wolseley has 
proven to be particularly rewarding 
we see each other not just as 
trading partners and exchange 
cr knowledge and practice by 
participating in each other’s cr 
and environment forums wolseley 
generously support our construction 
skills centres by providing materials 
and employment opportunities for 
the student apprentices wolseley 
also participate in our employee 
volunteering events
last year  our catering business 
managed to drive costs down and 
proﬁ ts up while at the same time 
improving our own sustainability 
performance and satisfying clients’ 
demands for more sustainable 
products by simply changing our 
confectionery supplier to a main 
grocery chain our catering business 
saved approximately 64000 food 
miles of deliveries to our sites 
likewise by sourcing our bakery 
products locally we’re investing in 
the surrounding communities and 
getting the freshest food available
it doesn’t stop there though over 
70 of our 57000 black waste sacks 
are now made from biodegradable 
materials as are the 45m napkins we 
use in our restaurants and the 50000 
disposable takeaway bags we give 
out with our delifood additionally 
our 160000 fruit and yoghurt pots 
are now packaged in plastic cups 
made from polylactic acid 
mitie also endorses the international 
labour organisation’s declaration 
on fundamental principles and 
rights at work and the ethical 
trading initiative ‘base code’ we 
ensure that employment with us is 
always freely chosen freedom of 
association is respected working 
conditions are safe and hygienic 
child labour is not used pay is not 
lower than the minimum wage 
working hours are not excessive 
regular employment is provided 
and no harsh or inhumane treatment 
is allowed
environment
we know our business can have an 
impact on the natural environment 
and we do what we can to 
minimise and mitigate this by using 
environmentallyfriendly materials 
and practices we have developed 
our products and services to meet 
the environmental demands of our 
clients and are proud to help them 
achieve their environmental targets
in november 2007 our work in energy 
management and sustainability with 
the department for culture media 
and sport was recognised at the 
premises and facilities management 
annual awards where we picked up 
the partners in sustainability award 
2007 we were also awarded a 
green apple award for our work on 
the same contract at the beginning 
of the year we implemented an 
energy action plan and a number of 
other sustainability initiatives helping 
to support the department in its drive 
to achieve its environmental targets 
to date the plan has identiﬁ ed 
savings of £83000 per year and the 
equivalent of 546 tonnes of co
2
 
our work has also helped them 
become the ﬁ rst whitehall 
government department to 
be accredited by the carbon 
trust’s energy efﬁ ciency 
accreditation scheme
last year we won a highly 
commended certiﬁ cate in the fm 
excellence awards for sustainability 
to recognise our partnership with 
castle v ale school in birmingham 
home to one of our skills centres the 
award was for our support for their 
entry in the ‘go green’ challenge 
on teachers tv one of mitie’s 
energy managers voted nemex 
energy manager of the year 2007 
worked closely with both staff and 
pupils to help them reduce their 
electricity and gas use by 10 in a 
single term the total amount saved 
came to 51 tonnes of co
2
 and over 
£8000 per year 40 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
skills for life
over 500 students are currently 
studying on nationally recognised 
construction vocational courses 
in the mitie skills centres
as part of the government’s 
renewable energy drive every major 
new building in the uk must now 
generate at least 10 of its power 
onsite from renewable sources 
faced with this challenge standard 
life investments came to us to help 
them install a geothermal energy 
system at their new guildford ofﬁ ces 
the project is due for completion in 
october 2008 and we will also be 
carrying out the mechanical and 
electrical elements of the design 
and build
in addition to this we have now 
made quietrevolution turbines a 
key component of many of our low 
carbon schemes and an integral 
part of the engineering services 
team’s new microgeneration 
offering a single turbine can 
generate 10000kwh a year  
equivalent to 10 of the energy 
requirements of a 600m
2
 ofﬁ ce 
building the ﬁ rst project to go live 
was at merton abbey mills in london 
which is used to power the colour 
house children’s theatre 
community
we believe in giving something back 
to the many communities we work 
in building links with local businesses 
supporting our people in their own 
neighbourhoods and reinforcing 
our reputation as a responsible 
company the value of our 
community investment during the 
year amounted to nearly £600000 
we will continue to give our skills 
and our time as well as money to 
supporting employee volunteering 
and fundraising we play our part 
in communities across the world 
as well as at home in the uk
our skills centres are particularly 
close to our hearts and are our most 
important and visible commitment 
to supporting the development of 
young people the ﬁ rst skills centre 
was opened in portsmouth in 2001 
and was hailed at the time as a 
revolutionary new way to tackle the 
vocational skills shortage facing the 
uk by bridging the gap between 
education and employment the 
centres give school children an 
introduction to construction and 
building skills over 500 students 
are currently studying on nationally 
recognised construction vocational 
courses in the mitie skills centres
during the year we opened a further 
skills centre at caldervale high 
school in airdrie – the ﬁ rst of its kind 
in scotland
mitie’s people have a wealth of skills 
and experience that we can share 
with the community since 2005 
over 1000 students have beneﬁ ted 
from our ‘world of work’ days 
which are designed to increase 
their employability skills 
we are keen to expand the 
understanding of opportunities 
within the workplace to more 
young people and in 200809 
we’ll build upon the ‘world of work’ 
programme this initiative will be 
designed to help young people 
to understand the roles that could 
be available to them when they 
leave school
our work with the bansang saving 
lives appeal continued from its 
base in a remote area of the african 
bush bansang hospital looks after 
the healthcare needs of some 
600000 people from the gambia 
senegal mali guinea bissau guinea 
conakry and refugees 
from sierra leone 
the most recent work with the 
hospital was a complete reﬁ t of 
the old colonial building to create 
twelve single bedrooms and two self
contained units for married medical 
staff our mechanical and electrical 
engineers worked alongside local 
workers on the new ‘mitie house’ 
which opened in early 2008 
the project used local materials 
wherever possible as well as other 
items donated by our uk suppliers 
as we continue to grow into a world
class company delivering world
class services our commitment 
responsibility and levels of investment 
to our communities grows with us 
corporate responsibility
continued  mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 41 
corporate 
governance
the board recognises that the manner in which the group is governed is critical to the longterm success of the business the board 
is committed to ensuring that high standards of corporate governance are achieved throughout the group 
this statement together with the directors’ report and directors’ remuneration report provides details of key aspects of mitie’s corporate 
governance environment and explains the manner in which the board has applied the principles and provisions of good governance as 
set out in section 1 of the combined code issued in june 2006 the code
the board
board responsibility
matters that are exclusively dealt with by the board include setting group objectives and strategies approving business plans and budgets 
and monitoring performance against these approving material tenders acquisitions disposals and business startups approving the 
group’s halfyearly and annual report and accounts appointing and removing the chairman directors and company secretary and 
monitoring the group’s corporate governance arrangements these matters are set out in a schedule of matters reserved for the board 
which was approved by the board on 19 may 2006 and which is available on the group’s website wwwmitiecouk 
board of directors
on 1 april 2007 there were six executive directors six independent nonexecutive directors one nonindependent nonexecutive director 
ian stewart and the chairman during the year two executive directors resigned from the board colin acheson and colin hale in 
addition as announced on 19 may 2008 the chairman david ord having served six years as a nonexecutive director of mitie and cullum 
mcalpine having served ﬁ ve years as a nonexecutive director of mitie intend to resign as nonexecutive directors with effect from the 
conclusion of the agm on 31 july 2008 these decisions to resign have taken account of the board’s orderly succession planning roger 
matthews an independent nonexecutive director will succeed david ord as chairman following the agm 
directors are appointed and may be removed in accordance with the articles of association of the company and the provisions of the 
companies act all directors are subject to reelection at intervals of no more than three years in accordance with the articles of association 
and the code the names and biographical details of all directors serving on the board as at 31 march 2008 are set out on page 48 as part 
of the formal board evaluation the board has considered the performance of each director seeking reelection and is satisﬁ ed that they 
continue to be effective and demonstrate clear commitment to the role
board balance
as part of the ongoing review of board performance as set out below the nomination committee and the board have speciﬁ cally 
reviewed the roles of chairman and senior independent nonexecutive director sid and the composition and chairmanship of each 
of its committees
the board and the nomination committee recognise that notwithstanding the reduction in the number of executive directors on the board 
from six to four during the year  there will be an imbalance in the number of executive and independent nonexecutive directors following 
the resignation of david ord and cullum mcalpine the composition of the board did not comply with provision a32 of the code prior to 
the resignation of colin hale in january 2008 and will similarly not comply with provision a32 following the date of the agm the board is 
broadly satisﬁ ed that the anticipated composition following the date of the agm is appropriate having regard in particular to the integrity 
skills knowledge and experience of its directors and the size and nature of the business the board is also keen to ensure that the board does 
not become too large and unwieldy however  it is mindful of the need to maintain a balance of independent nonexecutive directors 
and nonindependent directors and has accordingly reviewed its composition and has initiated a search process to recruit an additional 
independent nonexecutive director to the board it is hoped that this recruitment process will be concluded within a reasonable timeframe
board appointments
chairman 
the nomination committee and the board have reviewed the role of chairman and resolved to appoint roger matthews as chairman 
with effect from the conclusion of the agm this is in accordance with the board succession planning in recruiting roger matthews in 
december 2006 and follows a period of familiarisation for roger matthews with the group in reaching this decision the committee and the 
board prepared a detailed job speciﬁ cation for the role and determined that the appointment of an independent internal candidate from 
amongst the existing nonexecutive directors was in the group’s best interests as part of this process the committee and the board have 
reviewed the independence of roger matthews as set out below
senior independent nonexecutive director sid 
following cullum mcalpine’s decision to resign from the board the board has reviewed the role of sid and resolved to appoint david jenkins 
to the role with effect from the conclusion of the agm
committee chairmanships and composition 
the board has similarly reviewed the composition and chairmanship of its committees with a view to ensuring that power and responsibility 
is not concentrated in a few individuals and that the committees draw appropriately on the range of skills and experience of the executive 
and nonexecutive directors the following changes to the chairmanship and composition of the committees will subject to reelection take 
effect on the conclusion of the agm 
•  david jenkins will assume the role of chairman of the audit committee
•  roger matthews will step down from the audit committee and
•  roger matthews will assume the role of chairman of the nomination committee 42 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
corporate governance
continued
chairman and chief executive division of responsibility
there is a clear division between the roles of chairman and chief executive as formally set out in the terms of reference for each of these 
roles these terms of reference have been reviewed as part of the review of the job speciﬁ cation of the chairman
the chairman is responsible for the effective running of the board this includes ensuring that the nonexecutive directors contribute 
effectively and that the board is aware of the views of major shareholders he is also responsible for ensuring that the board addresses major 
challenges faced by mitie and for the effective performance of the board and its committees the chairman is available to consult with 
shareholders throughout the year and is available at the agm
as chief executive ruby mcgregorsmith is responsible for all aspects of the operation and management of the group and its business 
during the year within the authorities delegated by the board 
the role of the executive and nonexecutive directors
the executive directors are collectively responsible for proposing strategy and for making and implementing operational decisions non
executive directors are responsible for exercising their independent skill and judgement and contributing to the formulation of strategy 
policy and decision making the terms of appointment of the nonexecutive directors’ and the executive directors’ service contracts are 
available for inspection at mitie’s registered ofﬁ ce the head ofﬁ ce and at the agm 
company secretary
richard allan was appointed as the company secretary on 21 may 2007 as successor to suzanne baxter the company secretary is responsible 
for ensuring that board procedures and applicable rules and regulations are observed as well as advising on all governance matters 
director independence
during the year  nonexecutive director independence was considered by the board the board determined that all nonexecutive directors 
as at 31 march 2008 with the exception of the deputy chairman ian stewart were independent in mind and judgement and free from 
any material relationship that could interfere with their ability to discharge their duties effectively speciﬁ c consideration was given to david 
jenkins’ prior role with deloitte  touche llp  mitie’s external auditors the board determined that david is independent given that he had 
not been involved in the provision of services to mitie and the passage of time since his departure from deloitte  touche llp additional 
consideration was given to directorships held by both cullum mcalpine and david jenkins on the board of renewable energy systems 
holdings limited and two of its subsidiaries the board does not consider these directorships to adversely impact either of the nonexecutive 
directors’ independence
external appointments and commitments
executive directors are permitted to accept appointments outside the group providing permission is sought from the chairman and the 
chief executive and that the additional appointments do not interfere with the directors’ ability to effectively discharge their duties the 
commitments outside the group of the executive directors are detailed on page 54 executive directors are entitled to retain any fees 
earned from these external appointments 
board meetings
directors are supplied with an agenda and supporting papers for all board meetings on a timely basis this ensures that each director is 
appropriately briefed and able to properly discharge their duties papers submitted regularly for the board’s review include reports on 
current trading and performance corporate development activities health and safety and matters relating to corporate governance the 
board will also receive from time to time detailed presentations from nonboard members on operational matters the board its committees 
and its directors have access to the advice and services of the company secretary and where appropriate external independent legal 
advice funded by mitie 
all directors are expected where possible to attend all board meetings and the agm during the year ended 31 march 2008 there were six 
scheduled board meetings additional unscheduled board meetings were held to deal with administrative matters predominantly for the 
approval of the issue of shares dedicated budget review meetings have also been held directors’ attendance at scheduled board and 
committee meetings audit remuneration and nomination of which they are members is shown in the following table
director     board audit remuneration nomination
number of meetings held in year     6 3 5 3
d c ord     6 – – 3
i r stewart     6 – – –
r mcgregorsmith
1 2
     6 – – 2
s baxter
1
     6 – – –
n r goodman     6 – – –
d s jenkins     6 3 5 3
i j s macpherson     6 3 5 3
r j matthews      6 3 – –
c mcalpine     4 2 3 3
g potts      6 – 5 –
w robson     6 – – –
c s acheson
3
     3 – – –
c s hale
4
     4 – – –
1
 ruby mcgregorsmith and suzanne baxter attended the audit remuneration and nomination committee meetings by invitation
2
 ruby mcgregorsmith was appointed to the nomination committee on 26 july 2007
3
 colin acheson resigned from the board on 3 october 2007
4
 colin hale resigned from the board on 14 january 2008 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 43 
in addition to scheduled board and committee meetings during the year  the chairman met with the nonexecutive directors on several 
occasions without the executive directors being present 
director appointment induction and training
no new directors were appointed to the board during the relevant period however  the board has a general policy that subsequent to 
appointment to the board all new directors are subject to reelection by the shareholders at the ﬁ rst agm after their appointment that 
each new director receives a tailored induction suitable to their role and that all new directors receive a tailored information pack which 
includes a copy of mitie’s memorandum and articles of association latest annual report and accounts committee terms of reference 
and copies of recent board minutes and supporting papers in accordance with mitie’s articles of association all directors are subject to 
reelection at least once in every threeyear period none of the executive or nonexecutive directors has a service contract with a notice 
period greater than 12 months all directors have access to management and the operating businesses in mitie at their request and have 
secure remote access to board and other relevant papers held on a dedicated facility
review of board performance
the board is committed to effective and rigorous review of its performance and that of the committees and individual directors 
and accordingly a formal evaluation of the performance and effectiveness of the board its committees and of each director is 
performed annually 
director performance evaluation for the current year has been carried out using a combination of formal appraisal questionnaires completed 
by all board members and through informal meetings and discussions the results of these reviews are reported to the board and used to 
improve the board’s performance results of the prior year appraisal process identiﬁ ed an overall level of satisfaction with the performance 
of the board and that of its committees and directors additionally action taken in response to this feedback included the need to continue 
to monitor the balance of executive and independent nonexecutive directors and the sector relevant expertise of the independent non
executive directors and minor changes to the information reported to the board similarly action will be taken throughout the current year 
to introduce improvements as identiﬁ ed in the evaluation exercise undertaken for the year ended 31 march 2008
the committees
the speciﬁ c duties and responsibilities of each committee are set out in its terms of reference which are available on the group’s website 
wwwmitiecouk further details in relation to the composition role and functioning of each committee are set out below
executive committee and executive board
during the year the group operated an executive committee of the board which managed the operational matters delegated to it by the 
board the committee members were the executive directors and senior management were invited to attend speciﬁ c meetings during 
the year  the board approved the formation of an executive board which now fulﬁ ls the operational management role of the executive 
committee the purpose of this change was to enable nondirectors to be full participating members of the executive management team 
rather than involvement through invitation the executive board is not a formal committee of the board but operates on a review and 
consultative basis under the existing powers of the chief executive and other executive directors
the executive committee now remains as a formal approval and signing committee of the board
audit committee
the audit committee consists entirely of independent nonexecutive directors and is chaired by cullum mcalpine during the year the 
audit committee comprised david jenkins ishbel macpherson roger matthews and cullum mcalpine all members of the committee are 
considered as being appropriately experienced to fulﬁ l its duties while david jenkins ishbel macpherson and roger matthews continue 
to be deemed as at the date of this report by the board to have signiﬁ cant recent and relevant ﬁ nancial experience through their 
qualiﬁ cations and their previous appointments 
during the year the audit committee invited the external auditors chief executive group finance director and head of internal audit to 
attend meetings of the committee the committee also met separately with the external auditors and the head of internal audit without the 
presence of the executive directors 
report of the audit committee
during the year the audit committee held three meetings the matters under consideration at these meetings included 
•  the group’s halfyearly financial report and annual report and accounts
•  critical accounting policies and judgements
•  the review of the external auditors’ audit plan nature and scope of work and overall summary of key issues and judgements
•  the reappointment of the external auditors 
•  the approval of fees for the external auditors
•  the effectiveness of the external auditors including the appropriateness and skills of the audit team
•  compliance with the group policy on the provision of nonaudit services by the external auditors and maintenance of 
auditor independence
•  the approval of the group risk assurance framework and the internal audit plan for the year ending 31 march 2008 and for the year 
ending 31 march 2009
•  the review of key internal audit reports and ﬁ ndings and
•  the effectiveness of the internal audit function 
the audit committee is committed to ensuring the independence and objectivity of the external auditors and conﬁ rms that the 
requirements of the group’s policy on the provision of nonaudit services were met this policy restricts the external auditors from performing 
work which will result in them auditing their own work making management decisions for the group creating a conﬂ ict of interest ﬁ nding 
themselves in the role of advocate for mitie or creating any potential threat to their independence additionally the external auditors will 
only be considered for the provision of nonaudit services if they are best suited to perform the work in question deloitte  touche llp also 
maintains its own internal controls designed to safeguard their independence a summary of the fees paid to the external auditors is given 
in note 4 to the ﬁ nancial statements
the remit of the audit committee also includes monitoring the arrangements by which employees may raise concerns regarding any 
matters of ﬁ nancial reporting or other perceived improprieties across the group during the year ‘whistleblowing’ activity has been 
communicated to the committee along with the results of investigations carried out these investigations have not identiﬁ ed any material 
risks to the group 44 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
corporate governance
continued
remuneration committee
during the year the remuneration committee’s members were ishbel macpherson david jenkins graham potts and cullum mcalpine all of 
whom are independent nonexecutive directors the committee held ﬁ ve meetings during the year and is chaired by ishbel macpherson
the key duty of the remuneration committee is to make recommendations to the board on the individual remuneration packages of 
executive directors as a part of this process the committee oversaw the introduction of a ltip following shareholder approval at the agm 
in july 2007 to reward retain and incentivise senior members of the mitie management team during the year the committee has been 
advised by the following external remuneration consultants new bridge street consultants llp in relation to the introduction of the ltip and 
kepler associates in relation to executive director remuneration through formal benchmarking with market and industry comparators the 
board is responsible for reviewing and setting the remuneration of the nonexecutive directors 
nomination committee
during the year the nomination committee comprised david jenkins ishbel macpherson cullum mcalpine and david ord on 26 july 2007 
ruby mcgregorsmith was appointed as a member of the committee during the year three meetings of the committee took place a key 
function of the committee is to evaluate the balance and composition of the board and ensure that new directors bring the requisite skills 
knowledge and experience required for the role being considered a full evaluation of succession planning was also undertaken by the 
committee during the year as described more fully above 
shareholder communications
the board is committed to an ongoing dialogue with institutional and private investors the principal method of communication between 
the board and shareholders remains news announcements the halfyearly financial report the annual report and accounts the 
cr report and mitie’s website wwwmitiecouk a full programme of formal and informal events institutional investor meetings and 
presentations are also held following the halfyearly financial report and preliminary results announcements which are led by the chief 
executive and group finance director the chairman sid and nonexecutive directors may attend and are available for additional 
meetings with shareholders upon request
latest group information ﬁ nancial reports corporate governance and cr matters halfyearly financial report and preliminary results 
presentations major shareholder information and all announcements are made available to shareholders via the mitie website wwwmitie
couk which has a speciﬁ c area dedicated to investor relations the 2007 agm approved changes to the articles of association of the 
company implementing the use of electronic communications as enabled under recent changes in company law under the new articles 
the company can communicate with its shareholders in three ways in hard copy as under the previous articles in electronic form to 
shareholders who have elected to receive documents electronically and by making the document available on the website and notifying 
each relevant shareholder that the document or information has been made available on the website the company has deemed that 
any shareholder who failed within 28 days of the 2007 agm to elect to receive either electronic or hard copy communications has agreed 
to receive notiﬁ cation of documents made available on the company’s website
signiﬁ cant importance is attached to investor feedback on the group’s performance and as such the executive board receives an investor 
relations report at each meeting detailing corporate news share price activity investor relations activity and major shareholder movements 
the board is updated by the executive directors on these matters and receives analyst feedback following the halfyearly financial report 
and preliminary results presentations
the agm also allows shareholders to address and discuss any issues surrounding the group directly with the executive and 
nonexecutive directors 
internal control and risk management
the board recognises that it is responsible for the group’s system of internal control and for reviewing its effectiveness this system is designed 
to support the group’s pursuit of achieving its objectives and strategies and also the identiﬁ cation and management of risks that may 
impact upon mitie and the environment in which the group operates the system of internal control is designed to manage rather than 
eliminate the risk of failing to achieve these objectives and strategies and it will only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance 
against material misstatement and loss 
key features of mitie’s system of internal control are set out below
culture responsibility and accountability
the board and senior management are responsible for maintaining and developing a culture of integrity competence fairness and 
responsibility throughout the group essential to this is the recruitment and retention of highly skilled individuals who promote the highest 
standards of integrity competence governance and ethical behaviour 
group policies and procedures support the business by providing an operational internal control framework for the group each division 
and operating business to work within which is appropriate to the nature of the business being undertaken this framework is designed to 
balance the need for groupwide consistency and control with the autonomy local management require to develop and manage each 
operating business successfully 
in order to delegate responsibilities clearly and effectively to the group’s operating businesses and to ensure compliance with the matters 
reserved for the board a formal delegated authorities matrix is issued to all operating subsidiaries that includes both ﬁ nancial and non
ﬁ nancial authorities and matters relating to strategy contract approval recruitment capital expenditure banking transactions and speciﬁ c 
group policies each operating subsidiary is headed by a managing or regional director who has authority to manage their business within 
this framework of delegated authorities and group policies and procedures outlined above
to support the business further  the group central team has a team of specialist resources with individuals responsible for speciﬁ c functions 
including legal health and safety it  insurance human resources tax pensions purchasing ﬁ nance and business risk regular dialogue 
between these functions and the operating businesses provides additional support and forms a key part of the system of internal control
information and communication
the group maintains a number of systems and processes that report relevant information to group executive management and the board 
as necessary this includes ﬁ nancial and nonﬁ nancial information regarding business performance compliance with policy and procedure 
relevant regulations and business critical matters
at an operational level each division and business holds regular executive board meetings to maintain and develop relationships between 
separate divisions and to address speciﬁ c matters regional meetings are also held and are attended by regional representatives of each 
division senior group management regularly attend these meetings
the group also maintains an extensive intranet which allows all employees to access key information as well as group policies procedures 
and guidelines  mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 45 
risk management
the board conﬁ rms that there is a continuing process for identifying evaluating and managing signiﬁ cant risks faced by the group the 
board also conﬁ rms that this process has been in place throughout the year under review and up to the date of approval of the annual 
report and accounts and that this process is monitored by the board in accordance with the revised guidance on internal control issued 
by the financial reporting council
the process for identifying evaluating and managing principal risks requires the group and its principal businesses to consider strategic 
operational ﬁ nancial and compliance risks and the effectiveness of the mitigating controls based on a pre and post controls risk evaluation 
the principal risks identiﬁ ed from this process are recorded on the group’s risk register which is maintained by the group’s business risk 
function this register is reviewed by the board twice a year and will similarly be reviewed by the executive board twice a year 
monitoring the system of internal control
the board is responsible for monitoring the group’s system of internal control and for reviewing its effectiveness monitoring is carried out 
throughout the year via the receipt and review of various reports presentations and discussions with management as set out above 
speciﬁ cally the audit committee supports the board by monitoring and guiding the activities of the internal audit function including 
approving the internal audit programme reviewing regular reports from the function and via meetings with the head of internal audit the 
internal audit programme is designed to provide a level of assurance over key risks as identiﬁ ed in the group risk register and is developed 
by the head of internal audit who reports to the company secretary and independently to the audit committee 
during the reporting period a review was initiated by the audit committee into the group’s assurance framework encompassing both 
the group’s business risk function and group level controls and the assurance framework within the operating divisions the review was 
conducted by external consultants grant thornton who reported in november 2007 a number of recommendations set out in the report 
have been implemented in order to strengthen further the group’s risk assurance framework
the audit committee also receives regular reports from the external auditors who contribute a further independent perspective on certain 
aspects of the internal ﬁ nancial control systems arising from their work as necessary the audit committee will have dialogue with the 
executive directors on their control responsibilities and in particular  those relating to speciﬁ c matters reported by internal or external audit
reviewing the effectiveness of the system of internal control
the board performs a formal annual assessment of the operation and effectiveness of the system of internal control and updates this 
assessment prior to the signing of the annual report and accounts this includes consideration of reports on principal risks controls and their 
effectiveness from the heads of each central team function and an independent report from the head of internal audit summarising key 
audit ﬁ ndings the board also holds discussions with senior management and reviews the results of a formal internal controls review and 
system effectiveness conﬁ rmation from each operating subsidiary
the board conﬁ rms that management has taken steps during the year to improve further the system of internal control embed effective 
controls further into the operations of the group and to address improvements as they come to management’s attention these steps are 
monitored to ensure they are implemented appropriately and that ultimately they are effective 
compliance with the combined code
the board conﬁ rms that throughout the year ended 31 march 2008 the group has complied with the provisions set out in section 1 of the 
code with the exception that the board did not consist of an at least equal number of independent nonexecutive and executive directors 
between 1 april 2007 and 14 january 2008 46 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
the group has an established risk management framework which is designed to identify evaluate and manage the risks and uncertainties 
facing the group this framework is described further in the corporate governance statement within this framework mitie classiﬁ es risks into 
four distinct categories according to their potential impact on the group
•  strategic – risks impacting longterm strategic objectives
•  operational – risks arising during daytoday activities which if not managed could impact upon the running of the business
•  financial – risks directly impacting upon the ﬁ nances of the business and
•  compliance – risks relating to legal and regulatory sanctions and damage to goodwill arising from failure to comply with applicable laws 
and regulations
principal strategic risks
new business
the group is increasingly tendering for and winning more complex and larger multiservice business there is an associated increase in the 
risks relating to appropriate scoping and pricing of contracts to ensure a fair balance of risk and reward securing balanced commercial 
terms and ensuring compliant delivery of services robust systems to gain visibility of these risks and manage them effectively will beneﬁ t 
the group’s service delivery capabilities and ﬁ nancial performance whilst any realisation of the negative effect of these risks would have 
a detrimental impact on the group’s proﬁ tability and reputation 
to ensure visibility and good management of these risks mitie’s system of internal controls incorporates strict bid and contract review and 
approval mechanisms depending upon the scope and risk of a speciﬁ c tender a dedicated commercial bid team and other specialists 
are utilised effective contract management and monitoring procedures are used to ensure that ongoing risks are properly managed 
through the life of each relevant contract
loss of major contracts
mitie has a number of major contracts which although not individually material by value to the group are important in supporting our 
future growth we adopt a key account management strategy for these contracts which includes where appropriate directorlevel client 
relationships and we monitor closely key client relations helping to reduce the risk of losing any of these contracts
acquisitions
mitie continues to seek to acquire businesses that ﬁ t with or complement our existing range of service offerings and culture the strategic 
risks associated with acquisitions include a failure to gain visibility of and manage risks that are assumed through acquisition valuation risk 
relating to the acquisition a failure to achieve a cultural ﬁ t and the synergistic and operational transition of the acquired business into the 
group if these risks were crystallised they could lead to material business disruption and loss of proﬁ ts and associated investor conﬁ dence 
these risks are managed and mitigated by the use of an experienced acquisitions team supported by internal specialists and external 
professionals and by the directors who closely monitor the acquisition process all material acquisitions require full board approval following 
any acquisition an executive director is appointed as an integration project sponsor with responsibility for ensuring that the acquired business 
is integrated successfully and the performance of the integration process closely monitored
infrastructure and systems
mitie is increasingly dependent upon the successful implementation and ongoing operation of information technology infrastructure and 
related systems failure to improve and invest in our infrastructure and systems on a continuing basis and to ensure their ongoing operational 
integrity could impact mitie’s ability to meet our operational commitments and may result in liabilities being incurred under customer 
contracts mitie’s infrastructure is continually reviewed by the board to ensure it is appropriate to the operations performed and that it 
enables employees to deliver services to its clients successfully the ongoing investment in a new sap based ﬁ nance and hr system will 
improve and strengthen further mitie’s it infrastructure
reputational risk
mitie operates in business sectors that are vulnerable to reputational damage through operational failings incidents that result in damage 
to mitie’s reputation may impact existing customer relations mitie’s ability to attract future business and damage to shareholder value mitie 
addresses this risk through the use of robust and well established operational procedures to ensure compliance with regulatory and legal 
requirements and with contractual obligations clearly deﬁ ned escalation procedures are in place to ensure that senior management have 
timely visibility of high risk matters
principal operational risks 
health safety and environment
the breadth and nature of activities that mitie undertakes gives rise to a range of potential health safety and environmental risks these 
risks could impact upon mitie its customers employees members of the public and the environment generally through injury or loss of life 
environmental damage disruption to business activities loss of reputation and the incurring of ﬁ nancial penalties speciﬁ c examples of 
potential risks encountered by employees include working at height installing and maintaining electrical systems using machinery and 
controlled chemicals and operating in hazardous sites and public areas
mitie manages these risks through the maintenance of a culture that encourages every employee to take responsibility for their health and 
safety and where all operational activities have a strong safety focus the chief executive is responsible for health and safety and is supported 
by the executive board the head of health and safety and a network of dedicated health and safety experts within the business all parties are 
committed to the continual development and improvement of processes and procedures to reduce the likelihood and impact of incidents 
training and education of all employees is a fundamental part of the improvement process and promotes a culture of both collective and 
individual responsibility for health and well being of our employees our clients’ employees and the general public 
employee skill shortages
mitie recognises that there may be skill shortages in some sectors in which the group operates this would impact upon our ability to mobilise 
and service new and existing contracts and potentially upon mitie’s ability to grow its business generally in order to recruit and retain the 
people that mitie needs we regularly review at the appropriate level our remuneration incentivisation and reward structures the group 
continues its emphasis on equitybased incentivisation for employees and other employee incentive and reward schemes
we place great emphasis on succession planning and on the need to train and develop all our employees as part of this mitie continues 
to provide workbased learning and training opportunities and currently employs 321 construction engineering and other apprentices 
mitie also supports vocational education in the wider community by providing skills centres in secondary schools in the last year we have 
opened our eighth skills centre
statement of principal risks and uncertainties mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 47 
principal ﬁ nancial risks 
liquidity
maintaining sufﬁ cient levels of liquidity and ﬁ nancial capacity is essential to enabling mitie to function at an operational level and to fund 
its growth strategy failure to manage liquidity properly could impact operational activities and the group’s ability to grow further speciﬁ c 
liquidity risks include the ability to manage working capital and sufﬁ ciency of banking arrangements 
the group treasury function is responsible for the management of liquidity risk and operates within a framework of policies and procedures 
that are approved by the board forecasting monitoring and reporting of cash ﬂ ows to senior management and the board ensures the 
appropriate level of visibility over the processes to control this risk furthermore within the reporting period preexisting committed ﬁ veyear 
banking facilities were extended by £80m on existing terms to £230m to provide ongoing funding to support the group’s growth strategy 
further details regarding ﬁ nancial risk are shown in note 23
principal compliance risks 
pensions
risks associated with the operation and management of the group’s pension funds concern the ability of the pension fund assets to meet 
future pension liabilities within the group this applies to mitie’s own pension schemes and to pension liabilities assumed by mitie where a 
workforce transfers to the group under new business contracts and relevant legislation
trustees manage the mitie group pension funds and the required contribution rates are set on the basis of independent actuarial advice 
actuarial valuations are sensitive to changes in assumptions made regarding future events including mortality rates and the longterm return 
on scheme assets the funding positions of these funds are regularly reviewed
in respect of pensions schemes associated with transferring employees for example the local government pension scheme the principal 
risk concerns the potential for scheme liabilities to exceed scheme assets requiring increases in posttransfer contribution levels mitie 
manages this risk through ensuring that appropriate advice is obtained in the bidding and transfer process that the risk is fairly and properly 
priced and that binding contractual commitments are secured as to how future liabilities are met and on the funding position on transfer 
further information regarding pensions is shown in note 34  48 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
david ord
‡
 
nonexecutive chairman
david was appointed as a nonexecutive director of mitie group plc in october 2002 and was later appointed as nonexecutive chairman 
in september 2003 david is managing director of the bristol port company which owns and operates the avonmouth and portbury docks
ian stewart 
nonexecutive deputy chairman
ian was appointed as chief executive of mitie group plc in 2001 and was appointed as nonexecutive deputy chairman on 30 march 
2007 ian was a founding member of mitie he is nonexecutive director of generation uk limited suppliers of scaffolding access and 
safety systems 
ruby mcgregorsmith
‡
chief executive
ruby was appointed as group finance director of mitie group plc in december 2002 later appointed as chief operating ofﬁ cer in 
september 2005 and subsequently as chief executive in march 2007 prior to joining the group ruby held a range of senior roles within 
the support services sector  primarily at serco group plc in addition she is a nonexecutive director of michael page international plc
suzanne baxter 
group finance director
suzanne was appointed as group finance director of mitie group plc in april 2006 suzanne is a chartered accountant prior to joining 
mitie she specialised in mergers and acquisitions related transaction support and also held a number of commercial and operational 
roles with serco group plc suzanne holds a seat on the opportunity now advisory board a part of the business in the community bitc 
organisation with a focus on workplace diversity and is also a member of the finance and risk committee of bitc 
roger goodman 
group corporate development director
roger joined mitie group plc in 1993 and was appointed as an executive director in august 2001 roger is a nonexecutive director of 
the business services association and asset skills council which advocates the growth of the support services industry proﬁ le and the 
development of skills in the sector in addition he is chairman of networkers international plc
bill robson 
director responsible for property services
bill joined mitie group plc in january 1992 following the acquisition of trident maintenance services limited and was appointed as an 
executive director in august 2001 
david jenkins
†‡
 
nonexecutive director and chairman of the nomination committee
david was appointed as nonexecutive director in march 2006 david was previously a senior partner with deloitte  touche llp in london 
having spent over 20 years in assurance and advisory services david is chairman of development securities plc and nonexecutive 
director of renewable energy systems limited he is a governor of downe house school 
ishbel macpherson
†‡
 
nonexecutive director and chairman of the remuneration committee
ishbel was appointed as nonexecutive director in july 2005 ishbel was previously an investment banker for over 20 years specialising in uk 
mid market corporate ﬁ nance and previously held positions at dresdner kleinwort wasserstein and hoare govett ishbel is nonexecutive 
director of hydrogen group plc and game group plc and the senior independent nonexecutive director at speedy hire plc 
roger matthews
†
 
nonexecutive director
roger was appointed as nonexecutive director in december 2006 roger previously held the roles of group finance director of j sainsbury 
plc and group managing director and group finance director of compass group plc roger is nonexecutive chairman of both land of 
leather holdings plc and lsl property services plc 
cullum mcalpine
†‡
 
nonexecutive director and chairman of the audit committee
cullum was appointed as nonexecutive director in april 2003 he is also director of sir robert mcalpine limited and chairman of renewable 
energy systems limited 
graeme potts

 
nonexecutive director
graeme was appointed as nonexecutive director in july 2006 graeme previously held appointments with inchcape plc rac motoring 
services and reg v ardy plc he is nonexecutive director of ben the motor  allied trades benevolent fund and is nonexecutive chairman 
of bikers legal defence limited
 member of the remuneration committee
†
 member of the audit committee
‡
 member of the nomination committee
board of directors mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 49 
directors’ report
the directors submit their report together with the audited consolidated ﬁ nancial statements of the mitie group of companies the group 
for the year ended 31 march 2008
principal activities 
mitie group plc the company is the holding company of the group the principal activity of the company is to provide management 
services to the group the group’s activities are focused on the provision of services in support of the buildings and infrastructure of clients 
business review
the company is required to set out a fair review of the business of the group during the reporting period including an analysis of the 
position of the group at the end of the reporting period and the principal risks and uncertainties facing the group details of this review 
are contained in the following sections of this annual report and accounts the chairman’s statement the chief executive’s review the 
operating review the ﬁ nancial review the corporate governance statement and the statement of principal risks and uncertainties
proﬁ t and dividends
the proﬁ t for the ﬁ nancial year  before taxation is £679m 2007 £566m the directors have declaredrecommended dividends as follows
paid on 8 february 2008 an interim dividend of 28p per ordinary share      £89m
recommended a ﬁ nal dividend of 32p per ordinary share       £101m
total ordinary dividend 60p per share 2007 51p       £190m
the ﬁ nal dividend subject to shareholder approval will be paid on 4 august 2008 to ordinary shareholders on the register on 4 july 2008 the 
company operates a dividend reinvestment plan drip further details on the operation of the drip are contained within the notice of the 
agm booklet
share capital
details of changes to the company’s share capital during the year and the number of ordinary shares in issue at the year end are detailed 
in note 27 to the ﬁ nancial statements 
substantial interests in share capital
as at 16 may 2008 the company has been notiﬁ ed of the following signiﬁ cant holdings of voting rights in its shares under the disclosure 
and transparency rules
    number of ordinary shares of 25p each  of share capital
fidelity international limited      10065118  318
legal  general group plc      12753391  403
mirabaud investment management limited      15673517  495
in june 2004 the company commenced a share buyback programme which has continued pursuant to the renewed authority given by 
shareholders at the agm in 2007 during the year to 31 march 2008 there have been no further purchases by the company of mitie shares 
the exact amount and timing of future purchases will be determined by the company and will be dependent on market conditions and 
other factors it is the company’s present intention to cancel any shares it buys back rather than hold them in treasury but this policy will be 
reviewed on a case by case basis further details on the proposed renewal of powers for share buyback and the allotment of shares in the 
company are provided in the notice of the agm booklet 
rights and restrictions attaching to shares
under the company’s articles of association holders of ordinary shares are entitled to participate in any dividends pro rata to their holding 
the board may propose and pay interim dividends and recommend a ﬁ nal dividend for approval by the shareholders at the agm a ﬁ nal 
dividend may be declared by the shareholders in a general meeting by ordinary resolution but such dividend cannot exceed the amount 
recommended by the board the company’s articles of association contain various provisions relating to voting rights attaching to ordinary 
shares and restrictions on the transfer of ordinary shares which are in line with standard administrative practice no person holds securities in 
the company carrying special rights with regards to control of the company and the company is not aware of any agreement between its 
shareholders that may result in restrictions on the transfer of shares
board of directors
the membership of the board as at 31 march 2008 and biographical details of the directors including details of committee chairmanships 
and other positions held are given on page 48 the notice of the agm booklet contains details of those directors who are retiring by 
rotation and proposed for reelection the board considers that the performance of those directors proposed for reelection continues to 
be effective and that they demonstrate a strong commitment to their role
on 19 may 2008 david ord announced his intention to retire from his role as chairman and as a director of the company and cullum 
mcalpine announced his intention to retire from his role as chairman of the audit committee senior independent nonexecutive director 
sid and as a director of the company these retirements will be effective on the conclusion of the agm on 31 july 2008 and roger 
matthews will thereupon assume the role of chairman with effect from the conclusion of the agm david jenkins will become chairman 
of the audit committee roger matthews will become chairman of the nomination committee and david jenkins will become senior 
independent nonexecutive director further details on the selection process in respect of these appointments are provided in the corporate 
governance statement during the year colin acheson and colin hale stepped down as executive directors of the company
directors’ interests
details of the beneﬁ cial and nonbeneﬁ cial interests including share options of each director and connected persons in the ordinary share 
capital of the company are provided in the remuneration report  50 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
directors’ report
continued
directors’ indemnities
the company maintains directors’ and ofﬁ cers’ liability insurance providing appropriate cover for any legal action brought against its 
directors andor ofﬁ cers the 2007 agm approved various amendments to the memorandum and articles of association of the company 
to extend the protection provided to directors in respect of any litigation against directors relating to their position as a director of the 
company these changes were made possible by recent amendments to company law the amended memorandum and articles of 
association speciﬁ cally provide that the company may indemnify directors against any liability incurred in connection with any negligence 
default breach of duty or breach of trust in relation to the company and that the company may fund defence costs individual directors 
would still be liable to pay damages awarded to the company in any action against them by the company and to repay their defence 
costs to the extent funded by the company if their defence was unsuccessful
going concern 
after making enquiries the directors have formed a judgement that as at the date of approving the ﬁ nancial statements there is a 
reasonable expectation that the group and the company have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the 
foreseeable future for this reason the directors continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the accounts
statement of directors’ responsibilities in respect of the accounts
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the ﬁ nancial statements the directors are required to prepare the ﬁ nancial 
statements for the group in accordance with international financial reporting standards as adopted by the eu ifrs and have chosen to 
prepare company ﬁ nancial statements in accordance with united kingdom generally accepted accounting practice uk gaap
in the case of international financial reporting standards ifrs accounts international accounting standard 1 requires that ﬁ nancial 
statements present fairly for each ﬁ nancial year the company’s ﬁ nancial position ﬁ nancial performance and cash ﬂ ows this requires the 
faithful representation of the effects of transactions other events and conditions in accordance with the deﬁ nitions and recognition criteria 
for assets liabilities income and expenses set out in the international accounting standards board’s ‘framework for the preparation and 
presentation of financial statements’ in virtually all circumstances a fair presentation will be achieved by compliance with ifrs where 
applicable the directors are also required to properly select and apply accounting policies present information including accounting 
policies in a manner that provides relevant reliable comparable and understandable information and provide additional disclosures 
when compliance with the speciﬁ c ifrs requirements is insufﬁ cient to enable users to understand the impact of particular transactions other 
events and conditions on the entity’s ﬁ nancial position and ﬁ nancial performance
in the case of uk gaap accounts the directors are required to prepare ﬁ nancial statements for each ﬁ nancial year which give a true 
and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the proﬁ t or loss of the company for that period in preparing these ﬁ nancial 
statements the directors are required to select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently make judgements and 
estimates that are reasonable and prudent and state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed subject to any 
material departures disclosed and explained in the ﬁ nancial statements
the directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the ﬁ nancial 
position of the company safeguarding the assets taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities 
and the preparation of a directors’ report and directors’ remuneration report which comply with the requirements of the companies act 1985 
the directors are also responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the company website financial statements published by the 
company on this website are prepared in accordance with uk legislation which may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions
to the best of each director’s knowledge the ﬁ nancial statements prepared in accordance with ifrs and contained within this annual 
report and accounts give a true and fair view of the assets liabilities ﬁ nancial position and proﬁ t or loss of the group and the undertakings 
included in the consolidation taken as a whole and the management report which is incorporated into the directors’ report includes a 
fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the company and the undertakings included in the 
consolidation taken as a whole together with the description of the principal risks and uncertainties they face
auditors and disclosure of information to the auditors
each of the directors in ofﬁ ce as of the date of approval of this annual report conﬁ rms that
•  so far as they are aware there is no relevant audit information being information required by the auditors in the preparation of their 
report of which the company’s auditors are unaware and
•  they have each taken all the steps that heshe ought to have taken as a director to make himselfherself aware of any relevant audit 
information and to establish that the company’s auditors are aware of such information
deloitte  touche llp have expressed their willingness to continue in ofﬁ ce as auditors and the resolution to reappoint them will be proposed 
at the forthcoming agm
events after the balance sheet date
there have not been any signiﬁ cant events since the balance sheet date 
financial instruments
the group’s ﬁ nancial instruments comprise bank loans ﬁ nance leases overdrafts and performance guarantees the principal purpose 
of these is to raise funds for general corporate purposes in addition various other ﬁ nancial instruments such as trade creditors and trade 
debtors arise from its trade the use of interest rate swaps and currency swaps will be used to manage interest and currency risk when 
necessary or material
payment of creditors
the group’s policy is to comply with the terms of payment agreed with suppliers where terms are not negotiated the group endeavours to 
adhere to the suppliers’ standard terms at 31 march 2008 the group had 47 days’ purchases outstanding 2007 48 days mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 51 
employee involvement disability and opportunities
the board remains committed to developing further a culture that encourages the inclusion and diversity of all of the group’s employees 
through respecting and appreciating their differences and to promoting the continuous development of employees through skills 
enhancement and training programmes the group’s employment policies are designed to attract retain train and motivate the very best 
people recognising that this can be achieved only through offering equal opportunities regardless of gender  race religion age disability 
or any other aspect of diversity it is the policy of the group that the training career development and promotion of disabled persons 
should as far as reasonably possible be identical to that of other employees
communication with employees continues to have a high priority the company maintains a groupwide intranet site and delivers 
biannual publications to all employees through the use of their own communication processes each of the group’s businesses is 
encouraged to ensure that employees are kept informed on group and individual business developments 
employees remain actively involved in the group’s activities via an employee forum this year the forum held two meetings chaired by 
ruby mcgregorsmith we look forward to an increase in involvement and activity of our company representatives
equity incentivisation of employees
the board remains committed to fostering and developing a culture of equity involvement whereby employees should be encouraged 
to build a stake in the company through the company’s various equitybased incentive schemes the board believes that it is this culture 
of equity involvement that has driven the group’s growth performance and that it assists in attracting and retaining skilled and committed 
employees during the year  and as approved at the 2007 agm the group has implemented the long term incentive plan ltip to 
incentivise and reward senior members of the mitie management team and has made adjustments to the discretionary those not open to 
all employees executive share option scheme esos to simplify the incentive effect for employees below board level the board is seeking 
shareholder approval at the agm for a change to the group’s savings related share option scheme sa ye to reduce the savings contract 
period from ﬁ ve years to three years the board believes that this is in line with general market practice and will make the scheme more 
attractive to and should increase uptake of the scheme by mitie’s employees 
the group has historically grown by giving entrepreneurial managers the opportunity to create wealth for themselves by taking the risk 
of starting a new business taking equity stakes at fair value in those new businesses in conjunction with mitie and then dependent on a 
preagreed pricing structure offering to sell that stake to mitie in exchange for mitie shares this incentivisation scheme typically provides 
for such managers to elect to offer their stake in their business to mitie between the ﬁ fth and tenth years from the date of establishment of 
the business recipients of shares under this incentivisation scheme are generally restricted from selling the mitie shares for a minimum of 
two years the board believes that this is a unique business model that has driven mitie’s past performance and continues to ensure a close 
alignment in interest between mitie shareholders and the management and employees of the group during the reporting period the 
group further expanded its use of this incentivisation scheme through the restructuring and recapitalisation of the group’s security business 
and through the startup of the client services business it is the board’s current intent to continue to utilise this incentivisation scheme
donations
charitable donations were made during the year amounting to £106850 2007 £116650 to charities serving the communities in which 
the group operates as a matter of policy no political contributions were made during the year 2007 £nil the total value of community 
investment as disclosed in more detail in our cr report 2008 was £592132 2007 £611836
electronic communications
the directors remain committed to improving and extending the methods in which the company communicates with its shareholders and 
wish to move towards an increase in electronic communication at the 2007 agm shareholders approved certain amendments which 
aligned the company’s articles of association with the new provisions of the companies act 2006 in relation to electronic shareholder 
communications the board has been disappointed with the level of uptake by shareholders to date and would wish to encourage all 
shareholders to ‘opt in’ to electronic communications – thus realising the environmental and cost beneﬁ ts of reduced printing and carriage 
of hard copy reports and other communications
agm
the notice of the agm to be held on 31 july 2008 is given together with explanatory notes in the booklet which accompanies this 
annual report
basis of report
this directors’ report together with the other sections of this annual report incorporated by reference has been prepared and is published 
in accordance with and in reliance upon applicable english company law and the liabilities of the directors in relation to this report are 
subject to the limitations provided by such law
by order of the board
richard allan
company secretary
19 may 2008  52 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
directors’ remuneration report
introduction
this remuneration report summarises the company’s remuneration policy and particularly its application in relation to the directors 
the report describes how the company applies the principles of good corporate governance in relation to directors’ remuneration in 
accordance with the combined code 2006 the directors’ remuneration report regulations 2002 relevant company law and the listing 
rules of the financial services authority the company’s auditors are required to report on certain sections of this report the ‘audited 
information’ and to state if the report has been properly prepared in accordance with these regulations shareholders will be provided with 
an opportunity to vote on this remuneration report at the forthcoming agm further details are contained in the notice of agm booklet that 
accompanies this report 
shareholder approval will also be sought at the agm for two changes in the company’s existing equitybased employee incentive 
schemes the ﬁ rst is a change to the maximum grant level of awards under the long term incentive plan ltip the second a reduction in 
the contract period under the allemployee mitie group plc 2001 savings related share option scheme known as the save as you earn 
sa ye scheme from ﬁ ve years to three years details of these schemes are set out below and speciﬁ c details of the proposed changes are 
set out in the notice of agm booklet that accompanies this report 
part 1 information not subject to audit
remuneration committee
the remuneration committee the committee has responsibility for determining the remuneration packages of the executive directors it 
is also responsible for overseeing the operation of all equitybased employee incentive schemes operated by the company the terms of 
reference of the committee are available on the group’s website wwwmitiecouk and upon request 
during the year  the members of the committee were ishbel macpherson chairman david jenkins graeme potts and cullum mcalpine 
certain decisions affecting group remuneration policy were taken during the period immediately prior to the reporting period when sir john 
jennings was a member of the committee sir john jennings retired on 30 march 2007 and graeme potts was appointed a member on 30 
march 2007 in his place all members of the committee are independent nonexecutive directors by invitation of the committee meetings 
may also be attended by david ord roger matthews and ruby mcgregorsmith 
during the year  the committee was advised by new bridge street consultants llp in relation to the introduction of the 2007 ltip in 
november 2007 the committee engaged the services of kepler associates to assist with a review of executive remuneration policy 
including the remuneration of executive directors and to review the ltip and sa ye schemes the proposed changes to these schemes are 
the result of this review other than remuneration advice neither new bridge street consultants llp nor kepler associates provided any other 
services to the company 
remuneration policy 
the remuneration policy for the company’s executive directors and other group senior executives is shaped by the need to recruit retain 
and motivate individuals of the right calibre the policy also has regard to the company’s and the group’s culture which encourages equity 
ownership in order to maximise the alignment between the company’s executives and its shareholders and is a longstanding feature of the 
group’s executive remuneration structures the committee and the board continues to believe that the principle of equity incentivisation 
has been a key driving force in the past success of the group consequently in order to maintain and develop further mitie’s performance 
culture the remuneration packages of executive directors and other group executives should continue to contain signiﬁ cant performance
related elements
chairman’s remuneration
the remuneration for the chairman david ord is recommended by the committee for approval by the board the level of remuneration 
for the chairman reﬂ ects the responsibilities and commitment of this role and was reviewed during the year following receipt of advice from 
new bridge street consultants llp in relation to market comparators 
nonexecutive director remuneration
the fees for the nonexecutive directors are set by the chairman and the executive directors and they are reviewed annually the fee level 
is designed both to recognise the contribution and responsibilities of the role and to attract individuals with the levels of experience and 
skills required to contribute to the future development of the board and the group the nonexecutive directors are paid a basic fee with 
an additional fee for chairmanship of committees together with expenses incurred in carrying out their duties on behalf of the company 
nonexecutive directors are not eligible to participate in any of the company’s schemes or the annual bonus scheme nor do they receive 
pensions or ancillary beneﬁ ts further details of fees paid to nonexecutive directors are provided in the audited section of this report
executive directors’ remuneration
overall policy
the committee has during the year  further reviewed its policy in respect of remuneration for executive directors kepler associates were 
engaged to assist in this process the changes proposed to the ltip scheme as set out in greater detail below and in the notice of agm 
booklet accompanying this report will enable the company to provide an executive director remuneration package that is more strongly 
weighted towards sharebased incentives – reinforcing the link between the interests of executive directors and those of the shareholders 
the overall package for executive directors consists of salary an annual performancerelated bonus longterm equitybased incentives 
pension contributions and other beneﬁ ts the committee has continued its policy of providing a remuneration structure with a strong 
variable performancerelated element there are two key components of variable remuneration the annual performancerelated cash 
bonus and the performancerelated ltip the committee believes that where the executive directors receive remuneration packages at 
or above the median of an appropriate group of comparator companies this appropriately reﬂ ects the relative outperformance of mitie 
when compared with such sector and size comparator companies 
salary and beneﬁ ts
salaries for executive directors are reviewed annually and any change to salary is generally made with effect from 1 april kepler associates 
advised the committee during the year on a formal benchmarking process in respect of executive director pay which took account of 
pay levels in sector and size comparator companies the committee also took account of a range of other factors when determining 
appropriate salary levels including market conditions and the responsibilities and skills of the individual directors details of the salaries of the 
executive directors during the year  together with the details of and value of other emoluments and beneﬁ ts are given below mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 53 
annual bonus scheme 
the annual bonus schemes for executive directors in respect of the reporting period were designed to enable the executive directors to 
share in the success of mitie and where relevant the divisions for which the executive director is responsible all the executive directors 
have a maximum annual bonus potential of 100 of salary the bonuses payable to ruby mcgregorsmith and suzanne baxter for the 
year were based on the achievement of group budgeted performance levels the bonuses payable to the other executive directors 
were calculated on the basis of 50 of their bonus being dependent on the achievement of group budgeted performance levels and 
50 being calculated on the performance against budget of the respective areas of the group’s business within each individual director’s 
direct control the proﬁ tability performance targets for the year were delivered and as a result maximum awards under the scheme were 
paid to the executive directors
service contracts and terms
chairman and nonexecutive directors
the nonexecutive directors and the chairman are engaged for terms of three years which are terminable on six months’ notice
 date of agreement notice period date of leaving
david ord 26 april 2004 6 months david ord has announced his 
   intention to retire on 31 july 2008
ian stewart
1
 30 march 2007 6 months –
david jenkins
2
 31 january 2006 6 months –
cullum mcalpine
3
 3 august 2005 6 months cullum mcalpine has announced his 
   intention to retire on 31 july 2008
ishbel macpherson
4
 27 july 2005 6 months –
roger matthews 4 december 2006 6 months –
graeme potts 1 august 2006 6 months –
1
 ian stewart was appointed nonexecutive deputy chairman on 30 march 2007 having previously held the position of chief executive
2
 chairman of the nomination committee
3
 chairman of the audit committee
4
 chairman of the remuneration committee
executive directors
all the executive directors have rolling service contracts which provide for a maximum of 12 months notice from either party there are no 
provisions for compensation on termination of employment set out within the contracts of the executive directors the dates of the contracts 
of the executive directors are set out below
 date of agreement notice period date of resignation
ruby mcgregorsmith  1 april 2003 12 months –
suzanne baxter 10 april 2006 12 months –
roger goodman 1 april 2003 12 months –
bill robson 1 april 2003 12 months –
colin acheson
1
 1 april 2003 12 months 3 october 2007
colin hale
1
 1 april 2003 12 months 14 january 2008
1
 colin acheson and colin hale ceased to be directors of the company on the dates indicated
equitybased incentive schemes
the group operates three equitybased incentive schemes from which awards can be made the long term incentive plan ltip targeted 
at executive directors and other senior executives and the mitie group plc 2001 executive share option scheme esos are both 
discretionary schemes and therefore not open to all employees of the group the sa ye an inland revenue approved scheme is open 
to all our uk employees
ltip
the ltip was established in 2007 and is the principal equitybased incentive scheme for executive directors awards may be granted in 
the form of nil cost options conditional shares or forfeitable shares the committee is examining the possibility of granting awards using a 
combination of these award types the committee may also decide to grant cashbased awards of an equivalent value to sharebased 
awards or to satisfy sharebased awards in cash although it does not currently intend to do so an award may not be granted after 26 july 
2017 no payment other than in respect of individual recipients electing to pay income tax where appropriate is required for the grant of 
an award awards are not transferable except on death and are not pensionable 
awards will normally vest after three years provided that certain performance criteria have been met the ltip awards made in 2007 
are subject to performance conditions that require adjusted earnings per share eps less inﬂ ation measured by the retail prices index 
– rpi to exceed certain performance thresholds over a threeyear period where eps growth is less than inﬂ ation plus 5 per annum 
none of the awards will vest awards vest in full for eps growth equal to inﬂ ation plus 14 per annum v esting will be on a straightline basis 
for performance between these levels following advice from new bridge street consultants llp and a consultation exercise with the 
company’s principal shareholders in 2007 the committee determined and continues to believe that eps is the most appropriate longterm 
performance measure for mitie it brings the advantages of simplicity and visibility of the value of the award which the committee believes 
enhances the ltip’s effectiveness as an incentive tool in the event of a changeofcontrol awards will be prorated both for time and 
performance subject to the discretion of the committee  54 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
currently an individual may not ordinarily receive awards in any ﬁ nancial year over shares having a market value in excess of 100 of annual 
base salary in that ﬁ nancial year in exceptional circumstances such as recruitment or retention the rules currently allow for this limit to be 
increased to 200 of any employee’s annual base salary it is proposed that the threshold in respect of annual grants is amended to 200 to 
allow certain executive directors who have not otherwise had the opportunity a greater possibility to build shareholdings in the company 
subject to the satisfaction of stretching performance targets as part of its review of the ltip  the committee considered the introduction of a 
second performance target for awards of over 100 of an executive director’s base salary the committee decided against this believing 
it would dilute the clarity and simplicity of the scheme and that a single target is more in keeping with the other successful equitybased 
incentive schemes that operate within the group it is also proposed to increase the maximum award in exceptional circumstances to 250 
of base salary the 2008 notice of agm booklet accompanying this report contains further details of these proposed amendments
further details of the ltip were provided in the 2007 notice of agm booklet available in the investor section of the mitie website at www
mitiecouk
esos
the current esos was established in 2001 the scheme has been approved by her majesty’s revenue and customs hmrc and options 
over shares to an individual limit of £30000 can be awarded under the approved element of the scheme options have in the past been 
awarded under this scheme to executive directors but following the introduction of the ltip it is intended that the esos will be focused on 
employees below main board level the committee does not currently intend to make any further awards under the esos to executive 
directors or to other participants in the ltip there is a limit on the grant level set at 100 of an individual’s base salary and the scheme has 
following changes to the scheme approved by shareholders at the 2007 agm a single performance threshold for vesting of the options – 
average growth in earnings per share over the threeyear vesting period must exceed inﬂ ation measured as rpi plus 4 the scheme 
permits the grant of share appreciation rights and the settlement of outstanding unapproved options with share appreciation rights 
sa ye
the current mitie group plc savings related share option scheme sa ye was established in 2001 the sa ye is open to all qualifying 
employees within the mitie group including executive directors hmrc rules restrict the maximum amount saved to £250 per month when 
the savings contract is started options are granted to acquire the number of shares that the total savings will be when the contract matures 
at a discounted price set at the start of the scheme in 2007 this discount was set at 135 the scheme currently provides that the savings 
scheme will run for  and options cannot normally be exercised before ﬁ ve years the committee is concerned that takeup of the sa ye 
should be improved and the lapse rate reduced and accordingly it is proposing that shareholders agree an amendment to the scheme 
rules to provide for a lesser savings contract period and option exercise period of three years the notice of agm booklet accompanying 
this report contains further details of the proposed amendments to the sa ye
dilution limits
for historic reasons the schemes’ rules have incorporated limitations on the grant of equitybased incentives which exceed the abi 
guidelines these limitations have historically been that the company will not issue in any tenyear period more than 12 of the issued 
ordinary share capital of the company in respect of equitybased incentive schemes both allemployee schemes and discretionary 
schemes and more than 6 of the issued ordinary share capital of the company in respect of discretionary equitybased incentive 
schemes however  the company will endeavour to keep within the best practice abi guidelines of 10 of issued ordinary share capital 
in respect of both allemployee schemes and discretionary schemes the esos ltip and sa ye and 5 in respect of discretionary schemes 
the esos and the ltip in calculating compliance with these guidelines the company allocates available ‘headroom’ on a tenyear ﬂ at
line basis making adjustments for projected lapse rates and projected increases in issued share capital as at 31 march 2008 the potential 
dilution of the company’s issued share capital was equal to 62 of the issued share capital in respect of all outstanding options granted 
under the company’s equitybased incentive schemes which will be satisﬁ ed through the allotment of new shares and 30 of the issued 
share capital in respect of all outstanding options granted under the company’s discretionary equitybased incentive schemes which will 
be satisﬁ ed through the allotment of new shares
shareholding policy
a shareholding policy for executive directors was introduced in 2007 at the same time as the ltip under the current policy all executive 
directors are required to build and maintain a shareholding in the company worth 100 of base salary the committee recognises that the 
principal mechanism for building up this holding will be on the exercise of ltip awards and accordingly until such time as the shareholding 
requirement is met executive directors will be expected to retain no fewer than 50 of shares net of taxes that vest under the ltip 
in view of the proposal to increase the maximum level of ltip award as set out above the committee has deemed it appropriate to 
increase the level of shares required to be held by any executive director who is granted an ltip award of more than 100 of their base 
salary to a level equivalent to 150 of base salary 
the level of executive director share ownership as at 31 march 2008 expressed as a percentage of base salary is set out in the share 
ownership table below
policy on external appointments
the board recognises that the appointment of executive directors to nonexecutive positions at other companies can be beneﬁ cial both for 
the individual director and the wider group through the broadening of their experience and knowledge individual directors retain their fees 
in respect of any such appointments roger goodman receives £25000 per annum in fees in respect of his role as chairman of networkers 
international plc ruby mcgregorsmith receives £43000 per annum in fees in respect of her role as a nonexecutive director of michael 
page international plc
directors’ remuneration report
continued mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 55 
total shareholder return performance graph
the graph below shows the value of £100 invested in mitie shares on 1 april 2003 and ending on 31 march 2008 compared with £100 
invested in the ftse 250 index and the ftse 350 support services index on the same date assuming that all dividends are reinvested the 
other points are the values at intervening ﬁ nancial year ends the committee is of the opinion that these comparators provide a clear 
picture of the performance of mitie relative to a range of companies of comparable size as well as a speciﬁ c group of companies within 
the same sector
source datastream
the market price of the company’s shares as at 31 march 2008 was 24200p the highest and lowest prices during the year were 28700p 
and 22325p respectively 
part 2 audited information
directors’ remuneration
the table below provides details of directors’ remuneration paid to or receivable by each person who served as a director at any time 
during the year 
     performance       
    base related   2008 2007
   salaryfees bonuses beneﬁ ts pensions total total 
   £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
executive directors     
r mcgregorsmith    370 370 18 11 769 607
s baxter   260 260 16 35 571 436
n r goodman   240 240 16 11 507 489
w robson   240 240 16 11 507 437
c s acheson
1
   115 – 8 6 129 368
c s hale
2
   200 240 16 33 489 505
nonexecutive directors     
d c ord chairman
3
   121 – – – 121 90
i r stewart
4
   75 – – – 75 695
d s jenkins   45 – – – 45 40
c mcalpine   45 – – – 45 29
i j s macpherson   45 – – – 45 45
r matthews   40 – – – 40 13
g potts   40 – – – 40 27
total   1836 1350 90 107 3383 3781
1
 colin acheson resigned as a director on 3 october 2007 
2
  colin hale resigned as a director on 14 january 2008 he was paid base salary until 31 january 2008 his 200708 bonus entitlement of £240000 in full an 
additional termination payment of £238750 and a lump sum pension contribution of £24000 conditional upon his own contribution of £18000 to the scheme 
3
 david ord’s fee increased to £140000 with effect from 26 july 2007 following a market testing review by new bridge street consultants llp
4
  ian stewart received an additional payment of £35000 in respect of consultancy services provided to the company following his retirement as chief 
executive and to support the transfer of the role to ruby mcgregorsmith
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
mar08 mar07 mar06 mar05 mar04 mar03
total shareholder returns rebased to 100
mitie group ftse 250 ftse 350 support services 56 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
pensions table
the pension beneﬁ t of directors who are members of the mitie group plc deﬁ ned beneﬁ t pension scheme is set out below
      increase in
     accrued accrued real accrued
     pension pension increase  pension
     31 march during in accrued 31 march 
     2007 the year pension 2008
     £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
r mcgregorsmith     7 2 2 9
n r goodman     22 2 1 24
w robson     26 2 1 28
c s acheson
1
     38 3 1 41
c s hale
2
     15 2 1 17
1 
colin acheson resigned as a director on 3 october 2007 
2
  colin hale resigned as a director on14 january 2008 a ﬁ nal contribution of £24000 was paid by the company conditional upon his own contribution 
of £18000 to the scheme 
the following table sets out the transfer values of the directors’ accrued beneﬁ ts under the deﬁ ned beneﬁ t pension scheme calculated 
in a manner consistent with retirement beneﬁ t schemes
       transfer value 
       of pension 
       increase 
    transfer  increase in  after transfer 
    values contributions accrued inﬂ ation  value
    31 march made by pension over  net of 31 march 
    2007 the director the year contributions 2008
    £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
r mcgregorsmith    53 8 2 1 57
n r goodman    368 8 2 12 389
w robson    360 8 2 8 367
c s acheson
1
    506 8 3 7 505
c s hale
2
    161 25 4 27 202
1 
colin acheson resigned as a director on 3 october 2007 
2 
colin hale resigned as a director on14 january 2008 
the transfer values disclosed above do not represent a sum paid or payable to the individual director instead they represent a potential 
liability of the scheme 
suzanne baxter is not a member of the mitie group plc deﬁ ned beneﬁ t pension scheme as the scheme was closed to new entrants in 
2005 pension contributions for suzanne baxter at a rate of 135 of base salary 2007 135 are paid into a separate deﬁ ned contribution 
pension scheme 
directors’ remuneration report
continued mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 57 
directors’ interests in shares and share options
share ownership
the beneﬁ cial interests of the directors who were in ofﬁ ce on 31 march 2008 in the share capital of the company are as shown below
       1 april 2007
    share   or if later date of 
    ownership  31 march 2008 appointment
    as  of base  ordinary shares ordinary shares 
    salary as at  of 25p of 25p
    31 march 2008  number number
executive directors 
r mcgregorsmith    69  111498  88012
s baxter    9  10000  10000
n r goodman    829  872108  1237213
w robson    1426  1500713  1500713
nonexecutive directors
d c ord      244451  222761
i r stewart      2020000  3020000
d s jenkins      50000  50000
c mcalpine      40000  40000
i j s macpherson      25651  25651
r matthews      20000  20000
g potts      15000  15000
directors also had beneﬁ cial interests in the share capital of the following subsidiary companies 
      31 march 2008 1 april 2007
      number number
r mcgregorsmith
mitie catering services london ltd b ordinary shares of £1 each –  5000
mitie engineering services edinburgh ltd b ordinary shares of £1 each 2000  2000
mitie engineering services north east ltd b ordinary shares of £1 each –  1500
mitie engineering services west midlands ltd b ordinary shares of £1 each 1500  1500
mitie security south west ltd b ordinary shares of £1 each –  3200
mitie services retail ltd b ordinary shares of £1 each 10000  10000
mitie transport services ltd c ordinary shares of £1 each 4500  4500
n r goodman
mitie catering services ltd  b ordinary shares of £1 each 8333  8333
on 31 march 2008 mite group plc acquired the minority interest in mitie catering services london limited including ruby mcgregor
smith’s holding of 5000 b ordinary shares of £1 each the consideration paid to ruby mcgregorsmith of £13000 was paid in cash on 20 
december 2007 mitie group plc acquired the minority interest in mitie engineering services north east limited including ruby mcgregor
smith’s holding of 1500 b ordinary shares of £1 each the consideration paid to ruby mcgregorsmith of £1 was paid in cash on 24 
september 2007 mitie group plc acquired the minority interest in mitie security south west limited including ruby mcgregorsmith’s 
holding of 3200 b ordinary shares of £1 each the consideration paid to ruby mcgregorsmith of £11200 was paid in cash 58 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
executive share option interests
directors also had interests in share options as follows
 esos options    esos options  
 outstanding granted lapsed exercised outstanding exercise 
 at 1 april during during during at 31 march price 
 2007 the year the year the year 2008 p exercisable between
r mcgregorsmith 
unapproved scheme 100000 – – 100000
1 
 – 127 
unapproved scheme 100000 – – – 100000 162 24062008 to 24062015
unapproved scheme 100000 – – – 100000 191 22062009 to 22062016
s baxter 
approved scheme 15000 – – – 15000 191 22062009 to 22062016
unapproved scheme 35000 – – – 35000 191 22062009 to 22062016
1 
the midmarket price of mitie ordinary shares on the date of exercise was 263p per share
the share options stated above were granted under the esos the performance criterion for the scheme that applied at the date of grant 
requires a percentage growth in the company’s earnings per share equal to or in excess of 100 per annum compound over the period 
from the date of grant of the option to the date on which the option ﬁ rst becomes exercisable the performance criterion selected is no 
different for the executive directors than for any other member of the scheme no payment was made for the grant of the options and 
there have been no variations to the terms and conditions or performance criterion for share options since the grant date the market price 
of ordinary shares of 25p each at 31 march 2008 was 24200p 
long term incentive plan interests
directors also had interests in nilcost share options granted under the ltip as follows
 ltip options granted   ltip options  
 outstanding during lapsed exercised outstanding exercise 
 at 1 april the year at during during at 31 march price 
 2007 2544pshare the year the year 2008 p exercisable between
r mcgregorsmith – 145440 – – 145440 nil cost july 2010 july 2011
s baxter – 102201 – – 102201 nil cost july 2010 july 2011
n r goodman – 94340 – – 94340 nil cost july 2010 july 2011
w robson – 94340 – – 94340 nil cost july 2010 july 2011
c s hale
1
 – 94340 62894 31446
1
 – nil cost july 2010 july 2011
1
  colin hale resigned as a director on 14 january 2008 it was determined that in applying the ltip scheme rules 31446 shares vested upon termination with the 
balance of 62894 share options lapsing the midmarket price of mitie ordinary shares on the date of exercise was 25775p per share
other than as stated above no other changes in directors’ interests have taken place since 1 april 2008 and no equitybased incentives 
have been granted to any director since 1 april 2008
this report was approved by the board and has been signed on its behalf by 
ishbel macpherson
chairman remuneration committee
19 may 2008
directors’ remuneration report
continued mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 59 
accounts
60  independent auditors’ report to the members of mitie group plc
61  consolidated income statement
62  consolidated statement of recognised income and expense
63  consolidated balance sheet
64  consolidated cash ﬂ ow statement
65  notes to the consolidated ﬁ nancial statements
90  independent auditors’ report to the members of mitie group plc
91  company balance sheet
92  notes to the company ﬁ nancial statements
97  shareholder information 60 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
independent auditors’ report to the members of mitie group plc
we have audited the group ﬁ nancial statements of mitie group 
plc for the year ended 31 march 2008 which comprise the 
consolidated income statement the consolidated balance sheet 
the consolidated cash ﬂ ow statement the consolidated statement 
of recognised income and expense and the related notes 1 to 
36 these group ﬁ nancial statements have been prepared under 
the accounting policies set out therein we have also audited the 
information in the directors’ remuneration report that is described 
as having been audited
we have reported separately on the parent company ﬁ nancial 
statements of mitie group plc for the year ended 31 march 2008 
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body 
in accordance with section 235 of the companies act 1985 our 
audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the 
company’s members those matters we are required to state to 
them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose to the fullest 
extent permitted by law we do not accept or assume responsibility 
to anyone other than the company and the company’s members 
as a body for our audit work for this report or for the opinions we 
have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report the 
directors’ remuneration report and the group ﬁ nancial statements 
in accordance with applicable law and international financial 
reporting standards ifrss as adopted by the european union are 
set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities
our responsibility is to audit the group ﬁ nancial statements in 
accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements 
and international standards on auditing uk and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the group ﬁ nancial 
statements give a true and fair view whether the group ﬁ nancial 
statements have been properly prepared in accordance with 
the companies act 1985 and article 4 of the ias regulation and 
whether the part of the directors’ remuneration report described as 
having been audited has been properly prepared in accordance 
with the companies act 1985 we also report to you whether in our 
opinion the information given in the directors’ report is consistent 
with the group ﬁ nancial statements the information given in the 
directors’ report includes that speciﬁ c information presented in the 
chairman’s statement the chief executive’s review the operating 
review the financial review and the corporate governance 
statement that is cross referred from the business review section 
of the directors’ report
in addition we report to you if in our opinion we have not received 
all the information and explanations we require for our audit or if 
information speciﬁ ed by law regarding directors’ remuneration and 
other transactions is not disclosed
we review whether the corporate governance statement reﬂ ects 
the company’s compliance with the nine provisions of the 2006 
combined code speciﬁ ed for our review by the listing rules of 
the financial services authority and we report if it does not we 
are not required to consider whether the board’s statements on 
internal control cover all risks and controls or form an opinion on the 
effectiveness of the group’s corporate governance procedures or 
its risk and control procedures
we read the other information contained in the annual report 
as described in the contents section and consider whether it 
is consistent with the audited group ﬁ nancial statements we 
consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any 
apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the group 
ﬁ nancial statements our responsibilities do not extend to any further 
information outside the annual report
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with international 
standards on auditing uk and ireland issued by the auditing 
practices board an audit includes examination on a test basis 
of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the group 
ﬁ nancial statements and the part of the directors’ remuneration 
report to be audited it also includes an assessment of the signiﬁ cant 
estimates and judgements made by the directors in the preparation 
of the group ﬁ nancial statements and of whether the accounting 
policies are appropriate to the group’s circumstances consistently 
applied and adequately disclosed
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the 
information and explanations which we considered necessary 
in order to provide us with sufﬁ cient evidence to give reasonable 
assurance that the group ﬁ nancial statements and the part of the 
directors’ remuneration report to be audited are free from material 
misstatement whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error 
in forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of 
the presentation of information in the group ﬁ nancial statements 
and the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be audited
opinion
in our opinion
•  the group ﬁ nancial statements give a true and fair view in 
accordance with ifrss as adopted by the european union of the 
state of the group’s affairs as at 31 march 2008 and of its proﬁ t for 
the year then ended
•  the group ﬁ nancial statements have been properly prepared in 
accordance with the companies act 1985 and article 4 of the 
ias regulation 
•  the part of the directors’ remuneration report described as having 
been audited has been properly prepared in accordance with 
the companies act 1985 and
•  the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the 
group ﬁ nancial statements
deloitte  touche llp
chartered accountants and registered auditors 
bristol united kingdom
19 may 2008 consolidated income statement 
for the year ended 31 march 2008 
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 61 
     2008   2007 
  notes 
before other 
items 
£m 
other items 
£m 
total 
£m 
before other 
items 
 £m 
other items 
£m 
total 
£m 
 continuing operations        
 revenue 3 14072 – 14072 12288 – 12288 
 cost of sales  11452 – 11452 9998 – 9998 
 gross profit  2620 – 2620 2290 – 2290 
         
 other administrative expenses  1898 – 1898 1691 – 1691 
 amortisation of intangible assets  – 19 19 – 16 16 
         
 total administrative expenses  1898 19 1917 1691 16 1707 
 operating profit 3 4 722 19 703 599 16 583 
         
 investment revenue 6 12 – 12 08 – 08 
         
 other finance costs  28 – 28 25 – 25 
 
unwinding of discount on deferred 
contingent consideration  – 08 08 – – – 
         
 total finance costs 7 28 08 36 25 – 25 
         
 profit before tax  706 27 679 582 16 566 
 tax 8 214 08 206 179 05 174 
 profit for the year   492 19 473 403 11 392 
         
 attributable to        
 equity holders of the parent  469 19 450 381 11 370 
 minority interests  23 – 23 22 – 22 
   492 19 473 403 11 392 
 earnings per share eps         
 – basic 10 149p 06p 143p 123p 04p 119p 
 – diluted 10 147p 06p 141p 121p 03p 118p 
 other items are noncash acquisition related items being amortisation of intangible assets and unwinding of discount on deferred contingent consideration 
  consolidated statement of recognised income and expense 
for the year ended 31 march 2008 
62 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
 
  notes 
2008 
£m 
2007 
£m 
 actuarial gainslosses on defined benefit pension schemes 34 68 47 
 tax chargecredit on items taken directly to equity 28 20 15 
 net incomeexpense recognised directly in equity  48 32 
     
     
 profit for the year  473 392 
 total recognised income and expense for the financial year  521 360 
     
 attributable to    
 equity holders of the parent  498 338 
 minority interests  23 22 
  consolidated balance sheet  
as at 31 march 2008 
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 63 
 
  notes 
2008 
£m 
2007 
£m 
 noncurrent assets    
 goodwill  11 2033 1484 
 other intangible assets 12 169 99 
 property plant and equipment 13 452 415 
 deferred tax assets 19 66 77 
 retirement benefit surplus 34 99 05 
 total noncurrent assets  2819 2080 
     
 current assets    
 inventories 14 24 79 
 trade and other receivables 16 3144 2728 
 cash and cash equivalents 18 426 256 
 total current assets  3594 3063 
     
 total assets  6413 5143 
     
 current liabilities    
 trade and other payables 21 2896 2557 
 financing liabilities 22 545 309 
 provisions 26 20 03 
 current tax liabilities  107 82 
 total current liabilities  3568 2951 
     
 net current assets  26 112 
     
 noncurrent liabilities    
 financing liabilities 22 37 28 
 provisions 26 272 86 
 retirement benefit obligation 34 24 – 
 deferred tax liabilities 19 62 39 
 total noncurrent liabilities  395 153 
     
 total liabilities  3963 3104 
     
 net assets  2450 2039 
     
     
 equity    
 share capital 27 79 78 
 share premium account 28 190 166 
 merger reserve 28 604 549 
 revaluation reserve 28 02 02 
 capital redemption reserve 28 03 03 
 other reserve 28 01 02 
 sharebased payments reserve 28 29 19 
 own shares reserve 28 20 – 
 retained earnings 28 1437 1102 
 equity attributable to equity holders of the parent  2321 1917 
     
 minority interests  129 122 
 total equity  2450 2039 
the financial statements were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 19 may 2008 they were signed on its 
behalf by 
 
 
 
ruby mcgregorsmith suzanne baxter 
chief executive group finance director  consolidated cash flow statement 
for the year ended 31 march 2008 
64 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
  notes 
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 net cash from operating activities 30 581 639 
     
 investing activities    
 interest received  11 07 
 purchase of property plant and equipment  178 208 
 purchase of subsidiary undertakings  269 39 
 purchase of other intangible assets  66 – 
 disposals of property plant and equipment  46 36 
 net cash outflow from investing activities  456 204 
     
 financing activities    
 repayments of obligations under finance leases  14 09 
 proceeds on issue of share capital  35 25 
 repayments of loan notes on purchase of subsidiary undertakings  80 10 
 bank loans raisedrepaid  300 110 
 purchase of own shares  20 – 
 equity dividends paid  173 149 
 minority dividends paid  03 02 
 net cash inflowoutflow from financing  45 255 
     
 net increase in cash and cash equivalents  170 180 
     
 net cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year  256 76 
     
 net cash and cash equivalents at end of the year  426 256 
     
 net cash and cash equivalents comprise    
 cash at bank  426 256 
   426 256 
 
 
 
 reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net debt  
 2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 net increase in cash and cash equivalents  170 180 
 bank loans raisedrepaid   300 110 
 repayments of loan notes on purchase of subsidiary undertakings   80 10 
 issue of loan notes on acquisition of subsidiary undertakings   16 121 
 increase in finance leases   09 08 
 movement in net debt during the year  75 171 
     
 opening net debt  81 252 
 closing net debt  25 156 81  notes to the consolidated financial statements 
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 65 
1 basis of preparation and significant accounting policies 
basis of preparation 
the group’s financial statements for the year ended 31 march 2008 are prepared in accordance with international accounting 
standards ias and international financial reporting standards ifrs as issued by the international accounting standards board and 
as adopted for use in the european union  
the accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements are consistent with those followed in the 
preparation of the group’s annual financial statements for the year ended 31 march 2007 except for the adoption of new standards 
and interpretations noted below adoption of these standards and interpretations did not have any significant effect on the financial 
position or performance of the group 
• amendment to ias 1 ‘presentation of financial statements capital disclosures’ 
• ifrs 7 ‘financial instruments disclosures’ 
• ifric 8 ‘scope of ifrs 2’ 
• ifric 9 ‘reassessment of embedded derivatives’ 
• ifric 10 ‘interim financial reporting and impairment’ 
• ifric 11 ‘ifrs 2 – group and treasury share transactions’ and 
• amendment to ias 23 ‘borrowing costs’ 
the following standards and interpretations have been issued but are not yet effective the directors do not anticipate that the 
adoption of these standards and interpretations will have a material financial impact on the group’s financial statements in the period 
of initial application 
• ifrs 8 ‘operating segments’ 
• ifric 12 ‘service concession arrangements’  
• ifric 13 ‘customer loyalty programmes’  
• ifric 14 ‘ias 19 ceiling and minimum funding requirements’  
• ias 1 revised ‘presentation of financial statements’ 
• ias 27 revised ‘consolidated and separate financial statements’ 
• ifrs 3  revised ‘business combinations’ 
• amendment to ifrs 2 ‘sharebased payments’ and 
• amendment to ias 32 ‘financial instruments presentation’ 
significant accounting policies under ifrs 
the significant accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the group’s ifrs financial information are set out below 
basis of consolidation 
the consolidated financial statements comprise the financial statements of mitie group plc and all its subsidiaries the financial 
statements of the parent company and subsidiaries are prepared in accordance with uk generally accepted accounting practice 
uk gaap adjustments are made in the consolidated accounts to bring into line any dissimilar accounting policies that may exist 
between uk gaap and ifrs 
all intercompany balances and transactions including unrealised profits arising from intragroup transactions have been eliminated  
in full 
subsidiaries are consolidated from the date on which control is transferred to the group and cease to be consolidated from the date 
on which control is transferred out of the group 
interests of minority shareholders are measured at the minority’s proportion of the net fair value of the assets liabilities and contingent 
liabilities recognised 
business combinations 
the acquisition of subsidiaries is accounted for using the purchase method the cost of the acquisition is measured at the aggregate of 
the fair values at the date of exchange of assets given liabilities incurred or assumed and equity instruments issued by the group in 
exchange for control of the acquiree plus any costs directly attributable to the business combination the acquiree’s identifiable 
assets liabilities and contingent liabilities that meet the conditions for recognition are recognised at their fair value at the acquisition 
date except for noncurrent assets or disposal groups that are classified as held for resale in accordance with ifrs 5 ‘non current 
assets held for sale and discontinued operations’ which are recognised and measured at fair value less costs to sell 
goodwill arising on acquisition is recognised as an asset and initially measured at cost being the excess of the cost of the business 
combination over the group’s interest in the net fair value of the identifiable assets liabilities and contingent liabilities recognised if 
after reassessment the group’s interest in the net fair value of the acquiree’s identifiable assets liabilities and contingent liabilities 
exceeds the cost of the business combination the excess is recognised immediately in profit or loss 
goodwill 
goodwill arising on consolidation represents the excess of the cost of acquisition over the group’s interest in the fair value of the 
identifiable assets and liabilities of a subsidiary associate or jointly controlled entity at the date of acquisition cost of acquisition 
includes all deferred amounts that become payable in the future 
goodwill is initially recognised as an asset at cost and is subsequently measured at cost less accumulated impairment losses it is 
reviewed for impairment at least annually any impairment is recognised immediately in profit or loss and is not subsequently reversed 
for the purpose of impairment testing goodwill is allocated to each of the group’s cashgenerating units expected to benefit from the 
synergies of the combination cashgenerating units to which goodwill has been allocated are tested for impairment annually or more 
frequently when there is an indication that the unit may be impaired if the recoverable amount of the cashgenerating unit is less than 
the carrying amount of the unit the impairment loss is allocated first to reduce the carrying amount of any goodwill allocated to the 
unit and then to the other assets of the unit prorata on the basis of the carrying amount of each asset in the unit an impairment loss 
recognised for goodwill is not reversed in a subsequent period 
on disposal of a subsidiary associate or jointly controlled entity the attributable amount of goodwill is included in the determination of 
the profit or loss on disposal  notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 
66 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
1 basis of preparation and significant accounting policies continued 
goodwill arising on acquisitions before the date of transition to ifrs has been retained at the previous uk gaap amounts subject to 
being tested for impairment at that date goodwill written off to reserves under uk gaap prior to 1998 has not been reinstated and is 
not included in determining any subsequent profit or loss on disposal 
intangible assets 
intangible assets acquired separately are capitalised at cost intangible assets identified in a business acquisition are capitalised at fair 
value as at the date of acquisition  
development expenditure relating to software is capitalised as an intangible asset if the asset created can be identified if it is probable 
that the asset created will generate future economic benefits and if the development cost of the asset can be measured reliably 
following initial recognition the carrying amount of an intangible asset is its cost less any accumulated amortisation and any 
accumulated impairment losses amortisation expense is charged to administrative expenses in the income statement on a straightline 
basis over its useful life 
revenue 
revenue is recognised to the extent that it is probable that the economic benefits will flow to the group and the revenue can be 
reliably measured revenue represents fee income recognised in respect of services provided during the period stated net of value 
added tax and is earned solely within the united kingdom 
revenue from multiservice contracts consists of various components which operate independently of each other and for which 
reliable fair values can be established accordingly each component is accounted for separately as if it were an individual 
contractual arrangement 
revenue from longterm contracts represents the sales value of work done in the year including fees invoiced and estimates in respect 
of amounts to be invoiced after the year end profits are recognised on longterm contracts where the final outcome can be assessed 
with reasonable certainty in calculating this the percentage of completion method is used based on the proportion of costs incurred 
to the total estimated cost cost includes direct staff costs and outlays full provision is made for all known or anticipated losses on each 
contract immediately such losses are forecast 
gross amounts due from customers are stated at the proportion of the anticipated net sales value earned to date less amounts billed 
on account to the extent that fees paid on account exceed the value of work performed they are included in creditors as gross 
amounts due to customers 
variations in contract work and claims are included to the extent that they have been agreed with the customer 
interest income is accrued on a time basis by reference to the principal outstanding and at the effective interest rate applicable 
which is the rate that exactly discounts estimated future cash receipts through the expected life of the financial asset to that asset’s net 
carrying amount 
dividend income from investments is recognised when the shareholders’ rights to receive payment have been established 
operating profit 
operating profit is stated before investment revenue and finance costs  
borrowing costs 
borrowing costs directly attributable to the acquisition construction or production of qualifying assets which are assets that necessarily 
take a substantial period of time to get ready for their intended use or sale are added to the cost of those assets until such time as the 
assets are substantially ready for their intended use or sale all other borrowing costs are recognised in profit or loss in the period in 
which they are incurred 
leasing 
finance leases which transfer to the group substantially all the risks and benefits incidental to ownership of the leased item are 
capitalised at the inception of the lease at the fair value of the leased item or if lower at the present value of the minimum lease 
payments lease payments are apportioned between the finance charges and reduction of the lease liability so as to achieve a 
constant rate of interest on the remaining balance of the liability finance charges are charged directly against income  
capitalised leased assets are depreciated over the shorter of the estimated life of the asset or the lease term 
leases where the lessor retains substantially all the risks and benefits of ownership of the asset are classified as operating leases 
operating lease payments are recognised as an expense in the income statement on a straightline basis over the lease term any 
lease incentives are amortised over the lesser of the life of the operating lease or to the first opportunity for termination 
foreign currency 
transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate of exchange at the date of transaction monetary assets and liabilities 
denominated in foreign currencies at the balance sheet date are reported at the rates of exchange prevailing at that date  
nonmonetary items carried at fair value that are denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rates prevailing at the date 
when the fair value was determined nonmonetary items that are measured in terms of historical cost in a foreign currency are not 
retranslated 
exchange differences arising on the settlement of monetary items and on the retranslation of monetary items are included in profit or loss 
for the period exchange differences arising on the retranslation of nonmonetary items carried at fair value are included in profit or loss for 
the period except for differences arising on the retranslation of nonmonetary items in respect of which gains and losses are recognised 
directly in equity for such nonmonetary items any exchange component of that gain or loss is also recognised directly in equity 
retirement benefit costs  
the group operates two defined benefit pension schemes and participates in a number of other defined benefit schemes in respect 
of the other schemes in which the group participates the group accounts for its legal and constructive obligations over the period of 
its participation which is for a fixed period only 
in addition the group operates a number of defined contribution retirement benefit schemes for all qualifying employees 
payments to the defined contribution and stakeholder pension schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 67 
1 basis of preparation and significant accounting policies continued 
for the defined benefit pension schemes the cost of providing benefits is determined using the projected unit credit method with 
actuarial valuations being carried out at each balance sheet date actuarial gains and losses are recognised in full in the period in 
which they occur they are recognised outside profit and loss and presented in the statement of recognised income and expense 
past service cost is recognised immediately to the extent that the benefits are already vested and otherwise is amortised on a straight
line basis over the average period until the benefits become vested 
the retirement benefit obligation recognised in the balance sheet represents the present value of the defined benefit obligation as 
adjusted for unrecognised past service cost and as reduced by the fair value of scheme assets any asset resulting from this 
calculation is limited to past service cost plus the present value of available refunds and reductions in future contributions to the plan  
taxation 
the tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax 
the tax currently payable is based on taxable profit for the year taxable profit differs from net profit as reported in the income 
statement because it excludes items of income or expense that are taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes items 
that are never taxable or deductible the group’s liability for current tax is calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or 
substantively enacted by the balance sheet date 
deferred tax is the tax expected to be payable or recoverable on differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities in 
the financial statements and the corresponding tax bases used in the computation of taxable profit and is accounted for using the 
balance sheet liability method deferred tax liabilities are generally recognised for all taxable temporary differences and deferred tax 
assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that taxable profits will be available against which deductible temporary 
differences can be utilised such assets and liabilities are not recognised if the temporary difference arises from goodwill or from the 
initial recognition other than in a business combination of other assets and liabilities in a transaction that affects neither the tax profit 
nor the accounting profit 
the carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each balance sheet date and reduced to the extent that it is no longer 
probable that sufficient taxable profits will be available to allow all or part of the asset to be recovered 
deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period when the liability is settled or the asset is realised 
deferred tax is charged or credited in the income statement except when it relates to items charged or credited directly to equity in 
which case the deferred tax is also dealt with in equity 
deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when there is a legally enforceable right to set off current tax assets against current tax 
liabilities and when they relate to income taxes levied by the same taxation authority and the group intends to settle its current tax 
assets and liabilities on a net basis 
property plant and equipment 
property plant and equipment is stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and any impairment in value depreciation is charged 
so as to write off the cost of the assets over their estimated useful lives and is calculated on a straightline basis as follows 
freehold buildings and long leasehold property – over 50 years 
leasehold improvements – period of the lease 
plant and vehicles – 3–10 years 
annually the group reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible and intangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that 
those assets have suffered an impairment loss if any such indication exists the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to 
determine the extent of the impairment loss if any where the asset does not generate cash flows that are independent from other 
assets the group estimates the recoverable amount of the cashgenerating unit to which the asset belongs  
recoverable amount is the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use in assessing value in use the estimated future cash 
flows are discounted to their present value using a pretax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of 
money and the risks specific to the asset for which the estimates of future cash flows have not been adjusted 
if the recoverable amount of an asset or cashgenerating unit is estimated to be less than its carrying amount the carrying amount of 
the asset cashgenerating unit is reduced to its recoverable amount an impairment loss is recognised as an expense immediately 
where an impairment loss subsequently reverses the carrying amount of the asset cashgenerating unit is increased to the revised 
estimate of its recoverable amount but so that the increased carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount that would have 
been determined had no impairment loss been recognised for the asset cashgenerating unit in prior years a reversal of an 
impairment loss is recognised as income immediately 
inventories 
inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value 
costs represent materials direct labour and overheads incurred in bringing the inventories to their present condition and location net 
realisable value is based on estimated selling price less further costs expected to be incurred to completion and estimated selling 
costs provision is made for obsolete slow moving or defective items where appropriate 
financial instruments 
financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised on the group’s balance sheet when the group becomes a party to the 
contractual provisions of the instrument the group derecognises financial assets and liabilities only when the contractual rights and 
obligations are discharged or expire 
assets that are assessed not to be individually impaired are subsequently assessed for impairment on a collective basis objective 
evidence of impairment for a portfolio of receivables includes the group’s past experience of collecting payments the number of 
delayed payments in the portfolio past the average credit period as well as observable changes in national or local economic 
conditions that correlate with default on receivables 
the carrying amount of the financial asset is reduced by the impairment loss directly with the exception of trade receivables where the 
carrying amount is reduced through the use of an allowance account when a trade receivable is considered uncollectable it is 
written off against the allowance account subsequent recoveries of amounts previously written off are credited against the allowance 
account changes in the carrying amount of the allowance account are recognised in the income statement  notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 
68 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
1 basis of preparation and significant accounting policies continued 
financial assets comprise loans and receivables and are measured at initial recognition at amortised cost appropriate allowances for 
estimated irrecoverable amounts are recognised where there is objective evidence that the asset is impaired 
cash and cash equivalents comprise cash in hand and demand deposits and other shortterm highly liquid investments that are 
readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value 
interest bearing bank loans and overdrafts are stated at the amount of the net proceeds after deduction of issue costs finance 
charges including premiums payable on settlement or redemption and direct issue costs are accounted for on an accruals basis in 
the income statement and are added to the carrying amount of the instrument to the extent that they are not settled in the period in 
which they arise 
trade payables are measured at fair value there are no financial liabilities classified as fair value through profit and loss or held for trading 
equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received net of direct issue costs 
provisions 
provisions are recognised when the group has a present obligation legal or constructive as a result of a past event and it is probable 
that an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation and a reliable estimate can be 
made of the amount of the obligation where the group expects some or all of a provision to be reimbursed for example under an 
insurance contract the reimbursement is recognised as a separate asset but only when the reimbursement is virtually certain the 
expense relating to any provision is presented in the income statement net of any reimbursement if the effect of the time value of 
money is material provisions are determined by discounting the expected future cash flows at a pretax rate that reflects current 
market assessments of the time value of money and where appropriate the risks specific to the liability where discounting is used the 
increase in the provision due to the passage of time is recognised as a borrowing cost 
precontract costs 
all bid costs are expensed through the income statement up to the point where contract award or full recovery of costs is virtually 
certain bid costs incurred after this point are then capitalised within trade and other receivables on the contract award these bid 
costs are amortised through the income statement over the contract period by reference to the stage of completion of the contract 
activity at the balance sheet date 
sharebased payments 
the group operates a number of executive and employee share option schemes for all grants of share options and awards the fair 
value as at the date of grant is calculated using the blackscholes model and the corresponding expense is recognised on a straight
line basis over the vesting period based on the group’s estimate of shares that will eventually vest 
the group has taken advantage of the transitional provisions of ifrs 2 in respect of equitysettled awards and has applied ifrs 2 only to 
equitysettled awards granted after 7 november 2002 that had not vested before 1 april 2005 
2  critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty 
critical judgements in applying the group’s accounting policies 
in the process of applying the group’s accounting policies which are described in note 1 above management has made the 
following judgements that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements 
revenue recognition 
revenue is recognised for certain project based contracts based on the stage of completion of the contract activity this is measured 
by comparing the proportion of costs incurred against the estimated wholelife contract costs except where this would not be 
representative of the stage of completion 
key sources of estimation uncertainty 
the key assumptions concerning the future and other key sources of estimation uncertainty at the balance sheet date that have a 
significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year are 
discussed below 
impairment of goodwill 
determining whether goodwill is impaired requires an estimation of the value in use of the cashgenerating units to which goodwill has 
been allocated the value in use calculation involves an estimation of the future cash flows of cashgenerating units and also the 
selection of the appropriate discount rates which involves judgement to use in order to calculate present values the carrying value of 
goodwill is £2033m 2007 £1484m at the balance sheet date see note 11  
retirement benefit obligations 
the calculation of retirement benefit obligations is dependent on material key assumptions including discount rates mortality rates 
future returns on assets and future contribution rates the present value of retirement benefit obligations at the balance sheet date is 
£1294m 2007 £1433m see note 34    
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 69 
3  business and geographical segments 
the group manages its business on a service division basis these divisions are the basis on which the group reports its primary 
segmental information 
business segments 
for management purposes the group is currently organised into three operating divisions – facilities services property services and 
engineering services  
principal activities are as follows 
facilities services offer integrated facilities management and a range of services including asset management energy consultancy 
document management front of house catering cleaning engineering maintenance landscaping pest control security waste and 
environmental management 
property services offer roofing repairs and redecoration interior fitout plumbing and heating social housing maintenance and 
refurbishment and fire protection 
engineering services offer services including mechanical and electrical energy generation and management technology and 
infrastructure 
segmental information about these businesses is presented below  
     2008    2007 
  
revenue  
£m 
profit before 
interest tax 
and 
amortisation  
£m 
margin  
 
profit before 
tax  
£m  
revenue  
£m 
profit before 
interest tax 
and 
amortisation  
£m  
margin  
 
profit before 
tax  
£m 
 facilities services 8204 489 60 446 7321 415 57 374 
 property services 2857 150 53 146 2151 106 49 109 
 engineering services 3011 83 28 87 2816 78 28 83 
 total  14072 722 51 679 12288 599 49 566 
the revenue analysis above is net of inter segment sales which are not considered significant 
the prior period results set out above are stated after integration costs of £23m relating to acquisitions the results of the group before 
the effect of integration costs are as follows 
     2007 
  
revenue  
£m 
profit before 
interest tax 
and 
amortisation  
£m  
margin  
 
profit before 
tax  
£m 
 facilities services 7321 415 57 374 
 add integration costs – 23 – 23 
 total 7321 438 60 397 
 property services 2151 106 49 109 
 engineering services 2816 78 28 83 
 total  12288 622 51 589 
 other segmental analysis 
  
facilities 
services 
2008  
£m 
property 
services 
2008  
£m 
engineering 
services 
2008  
£m 
total  
2008  
£m 
 assets by segment     
 goodwill and other intangible assets 1527 501 174 2202 
 divisional assets  2508 1072 950 4530 
     6732 
 unallocated assets     319
i
 total assets    6413 
      
 liabilities by segment     
 divisional liabilities 1628 817 758 3203 
 unallocated liabilities    760
i
 total liabilities    3963 
      
 total net assets    2450 
      
 capital expenditure     
 tangible assets 144 34 22 200 
 depreciation charge 96 31 17 144 
 intangible assets 138 447 53 638 
 intangible amortisation 17 02 – 19  notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 
70 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
 3 business and geographical segments continued 
  
facilities 
services  
2007  
£m 
property 
services  
2007  
£m 
engineering 
services  
2007  
£m 
total  
2007  
£m 
 assets by segment     
 goodwill and other intangible assets 1406 56 121 1583 
 divisional assets  2265 755 1006 4026 
  3671 811 1127 5609 
 unallocated assets     466
i
 
 total assets    5143 
      
 liabilities by segment     
 divisional liabilities 1597 550 812 2959 
 unallocated liabilities    145
i
 
 total liabilities    3104 
      
 total net assets    2039 
      
 capital expenditure     
 tangible assets 127 70 28 225 
 depreciation charge 90 24 16 130 
 intangible assets 39 02 05 46 
 intangible amortisation 16 – – 16 
i 
relates to interdivisional funding 
geographical segments 
all group operations are located in the united kingdom and the channel islands the group considers all operations form part of that 
single geographical segment 
4 operating profit 
operating profit has been arrived at after chargingcrediting 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 depreciation of property plant and equipment 144 130 
 amortisation of intangible assets  19 16 
 gain on disposal of property plant and equipment 17 11 
 staff costs see note 5 6977 5833 
a detailed analysis of auditors’ remuneration is provided below 
  
2008  
£’000 
2007  
£’000 
 fees payable to the company’s auditors for the audit of the company’s annual accounts  40 35 
 fees payable to the company’s auditors and their associates for other services to the group   
 – the audit of the company’s subsidiaries pursuant to legislation 390 350 
 total audit fees 430 385 
    
 tax services 90 40 
 other services 99 56 
 total nonaudit fees 189 96 
    
 total 619 481 
£13000 2007 £26000 of fees were incurred in relation to acquisitions and have been included in acquisition costs in addition to the 
amounts shown above the auditors received fees of £14500 2007 £11750 for the audit of the group pension schemes 
   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 71 
5 staff costs 
 number of people 2008  2007  
 the average number of people employed during the financial year was   
 facilities services 43654 38429 
 property services 2761 2697 
 engineering services 1544 1241 
 total group 47959 42367 
    
 the number of people employed at 31 march was   
 total group 49505 44866 
 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 their aggregate remuneration comprised   
 wages and salaries 6344 5304 
 social security costs 539 449 
 other pension costs 79 69 
 sharebased payments note 33 15 11 
  6977 5833 
details of directors’ remuneration and interests are provided in the audited section of the directors’ remuneration report and should be 
regarded as an integral part of this note 
6 investment revenue 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 interest on bank deposits 02 01 
 other interest receivable  10 07 
  12 08 
7 finance costs 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 interest on bank overdrafts and loans 26 23 
 interest on obligations under finance leases 03 02 
 unwinding of discount on deferred contingent consideration 08 – 
 total interest expense 37 25 
 less amounts included in the cost of qualifying assets 01 – 
  36 25 
borrowing costs included in the cost of qualifying assets during the year arose on the general borrowing pool and are calculated by 
applying a capitalisation rate of 63 to expenditure on such assets  notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 
72 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
8  tax  
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 current tax 194 179 
 deferred tax note 19 12 05 
  206 174 
corporation tax is calculated at 300 2007 300 of the estimated assessable profit for the year 
the charge for the year can be reconciled to the profit per the consolidated income statement as follows 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 profit before tax 679 566 
 tax at the uk corporation tax rate of 300  204 170 
    
 expenses not deductible for tax purposes 08 06 
 tax losses not recognised 01 03 
 profit on disposal of property 01 01 
 prior year adjustments 06 04 
 tax charge for the year 206 174 
in addition to the amount charged to the consolidated income statement deferred tax relating to retirement benefit costs share
based payments and shortterm timing differences amounting to £23m has been charged directly to equity 2007 £18m credit see 
note 19 the benefit of tax savings relating to retirement benefit costs and sharebased payments amounting to £08m 2007 £05m 
has been credited directly to equity 
the reduction in the corporation tax rate next year to 28 has not materially impacted deferred tax 
9 dividends 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the year   
 final dividend for the year ended 31 march 2007 of 27p 2006 24p per share 84 76 
 interim dividend for the year ended 31 march 2008 of 28p 2007 24p per share 89 75 
  173 151 
    
 proposed final dividend for the year ended 31 march 2008 of 32p 2007 27p per share 101 84 
the proposed final dividend is subject to approval by shareholders at the agm and has not been included as a liability in these 
financial statements  
10 earnings per share 
basic and diluted earnings per share have been calculated in accordance with ias 33 ‘earnings per share’ 
the calculation of the basic and diluted eps is based on the following data 
 number of shares 
2008  
million 
2007  
million 
 weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purpose of basic eps 3143 3106 
 effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares share options 49 44 
 weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purpose of diluted eps 3192 3150 
the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year excludes those held by the mitie group plc employee 
benefit trust see note 28   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 73 
11  goodwill 
  £m 
 cost  
 at 1 april 2006 1438 
 acquisition of subsidiariesassets 03 
 decreased consideration for subsidiaries acquired in prior years 01 
 acquisition of minorities 25 
 changes in fair values of subsidiaries acquired in prior year  19 
 at 1 april 2007 1484 
 acquisition of subsidiariesassets  495 
 acquisition of minorities 54 
 at 31 march 2008 2033 
   
 accumulated impairment losses  
 at 1 april 2006 – 
 at 1 april 2007 – 
 at 31 march 2008 – 
   
 carrying amount  
 at 31 march 2008 2033 
 at 31 march 2007 1484 
goodwill acquired in a business combination is allocated at acquisition to the cashgenerating units cgus that are expected to 
benefit from that business combination goodwill has been allocated to cgus in the following business segments which is how 
goodwill is monitored by the group internally 
 cost 
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 facilities services 1402 1307 
 property services 471 56 
 engineering services 160 121 
  2033 1484 
the group tests goodwill at least annually for impairment 
the recoverable amounts of the cgus are determined from value in use calculations the key assumptions for the value in use 
calculations are those regarding the discount rates growth rates and expected changes to selling prices and direct costs during the 
period management estimates discount rates using pretax rates that reflect current market assessments of the time value of money 
and the risks specific to the cgus the growth rates are based on industry growth forecasts changes in selling prices and direct costs 
are based on past practices and expectations of future changes in the market 
the group prepares cash flow forecasts derived from the most recent financial budgets approved by management for the next five 
years and extrapolates cash flows for the following five years based on an estimated growth rate of 2 per annum this rate does not 
exceed the average longterm growth rate for the relevant markets 
the rates used to discount the forecast cash flows from cgus are as follows 
  
2008  
 
2007  
 
 facilities services 114 92 
 property services 114 92 
 engineering services 114 92 
  notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 
74 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
12 other intangible assets 
  
customer 
relationships  
£m 
software and 
development 
costs  
£m 
total  
£m 
 cost    
 at 1 april 2006 and 1 april 2007 117 – 117 
 additions  23 66 89 
 at 31 march 2008 140 66 206 
     
 amortisation    
 at 1 april 2006 02 – 02 
 charge for the year 16 – 16 
 at 1 april 2007 18 – 18 
 charge for the year 19 – 19 
 at 31 march 2008 37 – 37 
     
 carrying amount     
 at 31 march 2008 103 66 169 
 at 31 march 2007 99 – 99 
customer relationships are amortised over the remaining period of the contract which currently ranges between six and eight years 
software and development costs are amortised over their useful life of between five and ten years once they have been brought into use 
13 property plant and equipment 
  
freehold 
properties  
£m 
long 
leasehold 
properties  
£m 
plant and 
vehicles  
£m 
total  
£m 
 cost      
 at 1 april 2006 60 51 522 633 
 additions 05 12 208 225 
 disposals 03 02 106 111 
 at 1 april 2007 62 61 624 747 
 additions – 12 188 200 
 acquisition of subsidiaries – – 10 10 
 disposals 14 – 117 131 
 at 31 march 2008 48 73 705 826 
      
 accumulated depreciation and impairment     
 at 1 april 2006 06 08 274 288 
 charge for the year 01 04 125 130 
 disposals – 01 85 86 
 at 1 april 2007 07 11 314 332 
 charge for the year 01 07 136 144 
 disposals 02 – 100 102 
 at 31 march 2008 06 18 350 374 
      
 carrying amount     
 at 31 march 2008 42 55 355 452 
 at 31 march 2007 55 50 310 415 
the net book value of plant and vehicles held under finance leases included above was £38m 2007 £24m   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 75 
14 inventories 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 workinprogress 06 69 
 materials 18 10 
  24 79 
15 financial assets 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 trade receivables note 16 1709 1655 
 amounts recoverable on contracts note 17  1082 768 
 other debtors 33 72 
 cash and cash equivalents note 18 426 256 
  3250 2751 
16 trade and other receivables 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 amounts receivable for the sale of services 1755 2224 
 reclassification to amounts recoverable on contracts – 534 
 allowance for doubtful debt 46 35 
  1709 1655 
    
 amounts recoverable on contracts note 17  1082 768 
 other debtors 33 72 
 prepayments and accrued income 320 233 
  3144 2728 
ageing of trade receivables 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 neither impaired nor past due 1272 1257 
 not impaired and less than three months overdue 398 333 
 not impaired and more than three months overdue 44 37 
 impaired receivables 41 63 
 allowance for doubtful debt 46 35 
  1709 1655 
movement in the allowance for doubtful debt 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 balance at the beginning of the year 35 39 
 impairment losses recognised 37 06 
 amounts written off as uncollectable 10 05 
 amounts recovered during the year 16 05 
  46 35 
before accepting new customers the group uses an external credit scoring system to assess the potential customer’s credit quality  
and defines credit limits by customer limits and scoring are updated as appropriate the maximum exposure to credit risk in relation  
to trade receivables at the balance sheet date is the fair value of trade receivables 
in determining the recoverability of a trade receivable the group considers any change in the credit quality of the trade receivable 
from the date credit was initially granted up to the reporting date the concentration of credit risk is limited due to the customer base 
being large and unrelated accordingly the directors believe that there is no further credit provision required in excess of the 
allowance for doubtful debt  
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other receivables approximates their fair value  notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 
76 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
17 amounts recoverable on contracts  
 contracts in progress at the balance sheet date 
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 amounts due from contract customers included in trade and other receivables 1082 234 
 reclassification from amounts receivable for the sale of services – 534 
  1082 768 
 amounts due to contract customers included in trade and other payables 17 04 
  1065 764 
    
 contract costs incurred plus recognised profits less recognised losses to date 9807 6714 
 less progress billings 8742 5950 
  1065 764 
at 31 march 2008 retentions held by customers for contract work amounted to £191m 2007 £189m  
18 cash and cash equivalents 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 cash and cash equivalents 426 256 
  426 256 
cash and cash equivalents comprise cash held by the group and shortterm bank deposits with an original maturity of three months or 
less the carrying amount of the assets approximates their fair value all balances are held in sterling 
included in cash and cash equivalents are deposits totalling £124m 2007 £103m held by the group’s insurance subsidiary which are 
not readily available for the general purposes of the group 
the credit risk on liquid funds and financial instruments is limited because the counterparties are banks with high creditratings assigned 
by recognised international creditrating agencies 
19 deferred tax  
the following are the major deferred tax liabilities and assets recognised by the group and movements thereon during the current and 
prior reporting period 
  
accelerated 
tax 
depreciation  
£m 
retirement 
benefit 
obligations  
£m 
business 
combinations  
£m 
share
based 
payments  
£m 
shortterm 
timing 
differences  
£m 
tax losses  
£m 
total  
£m 
 at 1 april 2006 08 05 36 13 20 02 02 
 creditcharge to income 01 11 05 04 06 – 05 
 credit to equity – 15 – 03 – – 18 
 chargecredit to goodwill – – 02 – 15 – 13 
 at 1 april 2007 09 01 33 20 41 02 38 
 chargecredit to income 06 07 10 03 12 – 12 
 charge to equity – 20 – 03 – – 23 
 chargecredit to goodwill – – 07 – 08 – 01 
 at 31 march 2008 03 28 30 20 37 02 04 
certain deferred tax assets and liabilities have been offset the following is the analysis of the deferred tax balances after offset for 
financial reporting purposes 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 deferred tax assets 66 77 
 deferred tax liabilities 62 39 
 net deferred tax asset 04 38 
the group has unutilised income tax losses of £35m 2007 £37m that are available for offset against future profits in addition the 
group has £05m 2007 £08m of capital losses deferred tax assets have not been recognised in respect of £31m 2007 £38m of 
these losses as their recoverability is uncertain   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 77 
20 financial liabilities 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 trade creditors note 21 1736 1553 
 other creditors 66 26 
 accruals and deferred income 552 513 
 financing liabilities note 22 582 337 
  2936 2429 
21 trade and other payables 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 payments received on account 11 10 
 trade creditors 1736 1553 
 other taxes and social security 531 455 
 other creditors 66 26 
 accruals and deferred income 552 513 
  2896 2557 
trade creditors and accruals and deferred income principally comprise amounts outstanding for trade purchases and ongoing costs 
the average credit period taken for trade purchases is 47 days 2007 48 days  
the directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other payables approximates their fair value 
22 financing liabilities 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 bank loans 500 200 
 secured loan notes 19 99 
 unsecured loan notes 28 12 
 obligations under finance leases note 24 35 26 
  582 337 
    
 included in current liabilities 545 309 
 included in noncurrent liabilities 37 28 
  582 337 
included in noncurrent liabilities are £21m 2007 £16m of obligations under finance leases see note 24 and £16m 2007 £12m of 
unsecured loan notes which are repayable between 2008 and 2013 the secured loan notes are supported by a bank guarantee 
during the year £16m of loan notes were issued to the vendors of robert prettie note 29 £70m of loan notes in respect of mitie 
security london limited formerly mitie trident security limited and £10m of loan notes in respect of the watch security limited  
were redeemed 
all borrowings are in sterling the directors estimate that the carrying amount of the group’s borrowings approximates their fair value 
the bank loans are repayable within one year and the overdrafts are repayable on demand 
  
2008  
 
2007  
 
 
the weighted average interest rates paid during the year on the overdrafts and loans outstanding were as 
follows   
 overdrafts 64 56 
 bank loans 63 58 
 loan notes 49 43 
at 31 march 2008 the group had available £180m 2007 £117m of undrawn committed borrowing facilities in respect of which all 
conditions precedent had been met the facilities have an expiry date of january 2012 the loans carry interest rates which are 
currently fixed at 61 and are currently determined at 04 over libor the overdraft carries interest at 09 over base rate the 
secured loan notes are backed by a bank guarantee details of the group’s contingent liabilities are provided in note 31 
  notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 
78 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
23  financial risk management objectives 
the group’s treasury function monitors and manages the financial risks relating to the operations of the group these risks include credit 
risk foreign currency risk liquidity risk and market risk 
credit risk  
the group’s principal financial assets are bank balances and cash and trade and other receivables 
the group’s credit risk is primarily attributable to its trade receivables the amounts presented in the balance sheet are net of 
allowances for doubtful receivables an allowance for impairment is made where there is an identified loss event which based on 
previous experience is evidence of a reduction in the recoverability of the cash flows in addition where appropriate certain debts 
are subject to credit insurance 
the group has no significant concentration of credit risk with exposure spread over a large number of counterparties and customers 
foreign currency risk 
the group has very limited trading transactions in foreign currency and currently there is no hedging of these exposures any material 
transactions would be appropriately hedged 
liquidity risk 
the group monitors its risk to a shortage of funds using a cash flow projection model which considers the maturity of the group’s assets 
and liabilities and the projected cash flows from operations bank facilities which allow for appropriate headroom in the group’s daily 
cash movements are then arranged 
the tables below summarise the maturity profile of the group’s financial liabilities 
 at 31 march 2008 
within one year  
£m 
in the second to 
fifth years  
£m 
total  
£m 
 trade creditors 1736 – 1736 
 other creditors 66 – 66 
 accruals and deferred income 552 – 552 
 financing liabilities 545 37 582 
 financial liabilities 2899 37 2936 
 
 at 31 march 2007 
within one year  
£m 
in the second to 
fifth years  
£m 
total  
£m 
 trade creditors 1553 – 1553 
 other creditors 26 – 26 
 accruals and deferred income 513 – 513 
 financing liabilities 309 28 337 
 financial liabilities 2401 28 2429 
market risk  
the group’s activities expose it to the financial risks of interest rates however all group debt is currently due to shortterm working 
capital fluctuations and hence is not hedged as at 31 march 2008 the group’s treasury function reviews its risk management strategy 
on a regular basis 
if interest rates had been 05 higherlower and all other variables were held constant the group’s profit after tax for the year ended 
31 march 2008 and reserves would decreaseincrease by £01m 2007 £01m  
capital risk management  
the group manages its capital to ensure that entities in the group will be able to continue as going concerns while maximising the 
return to stakeholders through the optimisation of debt and equity the capital structure of the group consists of net debt per note 25 
and equity per note 28  
the group’s capital structure is reviewed regularly the group is not subject to externally imposed capital requirements   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 79 
24 obligations under finance leases 
  minimum lease payments 
present value of lease 
payments 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 amounts payable under finance leases     
 within one year 14 10 14 10 
 in the second to fifth years inclusive 25 19 21 16 
  39 29 35 26 
 less future finance charges 04 03 – – 
 present value of lease obligations 35 26 35 26 
 less amount due for settlement within 12 months  14 10 14 10 
 amount due for settlement after twelve months 21 16 21 16 
the average remaining lease term is 23 months 2007 28 months for the year ended 31 march 2008 the average effective borrowing 
rate was 58 2007 53 interest rates are fixed at the contract date all leases are on a fixed repayment basis and no arrangements 
have been entered into for contingent rental payments all lease obligations are denominated in sterling 
the fair value of the group’s lease obligations approximates their carrying amount the group’s obligations under finance leases are 
secured by the lessors’ rights over the leased assets 
25 analysis of net debt 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 cash and cash equivalents note 18 426 256 
 bank loans 500 200 
 net debtcash before loan notes and obligations under finance leases 74 56 
 loan notes note 22 47 111 
 obligations under finance leases note 24 35 26 
 net debt 156 81 
26 provisions 
  
contingent 
deferred 
consideration 
£m 
insurance 
reserve  
£m 
total  
£m 
 at 1 april 2007 03 86 89 
 additional provision in the year 200 29 229 
 unwinding of discount on deferred contingent consideration 08 – 08 
 utilised during the year 02 32 34 
 at 31 march 2008 209 83 292 
     
 included in current liabilities   20 
 included in noncurrent liabilities   272 
    292 
 
  
contingent 
deferred 
consideration  
£m 
insurance 
reserve  
£m 
total  
£m 
 at 1 april 2006 154 65 219 
 additional provision in the year 03 38 41 
 converted to loan notes during the year 121 – 121 
 utilised during the year 33 17 50 
 at 31 march 2007 03 86 89 
     
 included in current liabilities   03 
 included in noncurrent liabilities   86 
    89 
during the year £02m of deferred consideration in respect of the purchase last year of the minority shareholdings in mitie engineering 
maintenance south west limited was settled by the issue of new mitie shares giving rise to a merger reserve of £01m 
provision is made for contingent deferred consideration which may become payable from 2008–2013 subject to profit targets being 
attained at the best estimate of the directors a total of £11m was provided for deferred consideration to the minority shareholders of 
mitie technology limited and mitie engineering services liverpool limited £153m in respect of robert prettie including the 
unwinding of discounted deferred contingent consideration and £45m in respect of other current year acquisitions 
the provision for insurance claims represents amounts payable by mitie reinsurance company limited in respect of outstanding claims 
incurred at the balance sheet dates these amounts will become payable as each year’s claims are settled  notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 
80 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
27 share capital 
 ordinary shares of 25p 
number  
million £m 
 authorised    
 at 1 april 2007 3400 85 
 authorised during the year 1600 40 
 at 31 march 2008 5000 125 
    
 2008   
 allotted and fully paid   
 at beginning of year 3124 78 
 issued for acquisitions 24 01 
 issued under share option schemes 20 – 
 at end of year 3168 79 
    
 2007   
 allotted and fully paid   
 at beginning of year 3088 77 
 issued for acquisitions 17 – 
 issued under share option schemes 19 01 
 at end of year 3124 78 
at the company’s agm on 26 july 2007 the company’s authorised share capital was increased from 340000000 to 500000000 
ordinary shares of 25p each 
during the year 24m 2007 17m ordinary shares of 25p were allotted in respect of acquiring minority interests at a midmarket price 
of 2372p 2007 1912p giving rise to share premium of £nil 2007 £04m and a merger reserve of £55m 2007 £29m  
during the year 20m 2007 19m ordinary shares of 25p were allotted in respect of share option schemes at a price between 58p and 
220p 2007 58p and 174p giving rise to share premium of £24m 2007 £24m   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 81 
28 reserves 
  
calledup 
share 
capital  
£m 
 share 
premium 
account  
£m 
merger 
reserve  
£m 
revaluation 
reserve  
£m 
capital 
redemption 
reserve  
£m 
other 
reserve 
£m 
share 
based 
payments 
reserve  
£m 
own 
shares 
reserve  
£m 
retained 
earnings  
£m 
total  
£m 
 balance at 1 april 2007 78 166 549 02 03 02 19 – 1102 1917 
 
shares issued and net 
premium arising in 
respect of acquisitions 01 –  55 – – – – – – 56 
 
shares issued and net 
premium in connection 
with exercise of share 
options – 24 – – – 01 – – – 23 
 
profit for the year 
attributable to equity 
holders of the parent  – – – – – – – – 450 450 
 dividends paid – – – – – – – – 173 173 
 
purchase of own 
shares by employee 
benefit trust – – – – – – – 20 – 20 
 sharebased payments – – – – – – 10 – 05 15 
 
tax credit on items 
taken directly to 
equity – – – – – – – – 05 05 
 
net actuarial gain on 
defined benefit 
pension schemes – – – – – – – – 68 68 
 
tax charge on 
actuarial gain taken 
directly to equity – – – – – – – – 20 20 
 
net income on 
defined benefit 
pension schemes 
recognised directly  
in equity in the year – – – – – – – – 48 48 
 
balance at  
31 march 2008 79 190 604 02 03 01 29 20 1437 2321 
the own shares reserve represents the cost of 08m shares in mitie group plc purchased in the market and held by the mitie group 
plc employee benefit trust to satisfy options under the group’s share option schemes see note 33 
  
calledup 
share 
capital  
£m 
 share 
premium 
account  
£m 
merger 
reserve  
£m 
revaluation 
reserve  
£m 
capital 
redemption 
reserve  
£m 
other  
reserve  
£m 
share 
based 
payments 
reserve  
£m 
own 
shares 
reserve  
£m 
retained 
earnings  
£m 
total  
£m 
 balance at 1 april 2006 77 137 520 02 03 03 14 – 901 1653 
 
shares issued and net 
premium arising in 
respect of acquisitions – 04 29 – – – – – – 33 
 
shares issued and net 
premium in connection 
with exercise of share 
options 01 25 – – – 01 – – – 25 
 
profit for the year 
attributable to equity 
holders of the parent  – – – – – – – – 370 370 
 dividends paid – – – – – – – – 151 151 
 sharebased payments – – – – – – 05 – 06 11 
 
tax credit on items 
taken directly to 
equity – – – – – – – – 08 08 
 
net actuarial loss on 
defined benefit 
pension schemes – – – – – – – – 47 47 
 
tax credit on actuarial 
loss taken directly to 
equity – – – – – – – – 15 15 
 
net expense on 
defined benefit 
pension schemes 
recognised directly in 
equity in the year – – – – – – – – 32 32 
 
balance at  
31 march 2007 78 166 549 02 03 02 19 – 1102 1917  notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 
82 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
29 acquisition of subsidiaries 
purchase of minority interests 
  
mitie 
mccartney 
fire 
protection 
ltd  
£m 
kbs fire 
protection 
systems 
ltd  
£m 
mitie 
technology 
ltd  
£m 
mitie 
engineering 
services 
liverpool  
ltd  
£m 
mitie 
security 
south west 
ltd  
£m 
mitie 
catering 
services 
london 
ltd and 
mitie 
catering 
services 
northern 
 ltd  
£m 
total  
£m 
 minority interests 07 01 10 06 02 01 27 
 goodwill 05 – 16 21 04 08 54 
 total purchase consideration 12 01 26 27 06 09 81 
         
 shares issued – mitie group plc 12 01 20 21 – – 54 
 deferred contingent consideration – – 05 06 – – 11 
 cash consideration  – – 01 – 06 09 16 
 total purchase consideration 12 01 26 27 06 09 81 
purchase of robert prettie  
on 2 april 2007 mitie acquired 100 of property services company robert prettie for estimated total consideration of £236m the 
transaction was accounted for by the purchase method of accounting below we provide final information on the fair value of net 
assets acquired 
  
book value 
£m 
fair value 
adjustments 
£m 
fair value 
£m 
 net assets acquired    
 intangible assets 86 67 19 
 deferred tax liability  – 04 04 
 property plant and equipment 02 – 02 
 inventories 49 04 45 
 trade and other receivables 12 – 12 
 cash and cash equivalents 02 – 02 
 trade and other payables 63 02 65 
 current tax liabilities 07 – 07 
 loans 37 – 37 
 pension liabilities 04 20 24 
 net assets acquired 40 97 57 
     
 goodwill   293 
 total consideration   236 
     
 satisfied by    
 cash   70 
 loan notes   16 
 deferred contingent consideration   145 
 directly attributable costs   05 
 total consideration   236 
     
 net cash outflow arising on acquisition    
 cash consideration   75 
 cash and cash equivalents acquired   02 
 loans repaid   37 
 net cash outflow   110 
the goodwill arising on the acquisition of robert prettie is attributable to the underlying profitability of the company expected 
profitability arising from new business and the anticipated future operating synergies arising from assimilation into the group  
the company contributed £491m to revenue and £33m to the group’s profit before tax for the period integration costs of £04m 
have been absorbed within the property services division as the group acquired robert prettie on 2 april 2007 there is no difference 
between the revenue and profit as reported from that which would have been made had the acquisition been made on the first day 
of the financial year 
the unwinding of the discounted deferred contingent consideration gave rise to a £08m finance charge in the year   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 83 
29 acquisition of subsidiaries continued 
purchase of other companies 
mitie acquired 100 of catering company catering partnership holdings limited on 6 march 2008 and 100 of property services 
company dw tilley limited on 19 march 2008 for estimated total consideration of £227m the transactions were accounted for by the 
purchase method of accounting below we provide provisional information on the fair value of net assets acquired 
  
book value 
£m 
fair value 
adjustments 
£m 
fair value 
£m 
 net assets acquired    
 intangible assets – 04 04 
 deferred tax asset  – 05 05 
 property plant and equipment 09 01 08 
 inventories 01 – 01 
 trade and other receivables 38 03 35 
 cash and cash equivalents 43 – 43 
 trade and other payables 40 19 59 
 current tax liabilities 07 01 08 
 net assets acquired 44 15 29 
     
 goodwill   198 
 total consideration   227 
     
 satisfied by    
 cash   177 
 deferred contingent consideration   45 
 directly attributable costs   05 
 total consideration   227 
     
 net cash outflow arising on acquisition    
 cash consideration   182 
 cash and cash equivalents acquired   43 
 net cash outflow   139 
the goodwill arising on the acquisitions is attributable to the underlying profitability of the businesses expected profitability arising from 
new business and the anticipated future operating synergies arising from assimilation into the group  
the companies contributed £12m to revenue and £01m to the group’s profit before tax for the period had the group acquired the 
companies on the first day of the financial year they would have contributed £282m to revenue and £19m to profit before tax 
the unwinding of the discounted deferred contingent consideration gave rise to no material finance charge in the year  notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 
84 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
30 notes to the cash flow statement 
 reconciliation of operating profit to net cash from operating activities 
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 operating profit  703 583 
 adjustments for   
 sharebased payment expense 15 11 
 pension charge 21 18 
 pension contributions 47 52 
 depreciation of property plant and equipment 144 130 
 amortisation of intangible assets 19 16 
 gain on disposal of property plant and equipment 17 11 
 operating cash flows before movements in working capital 838 695 
    
 decrease in inventories 101 09 
 increase in receivables 369 285 
 increase in payables 215 394 
 decreaseincrease in provisions 03 21 
 cash generated by operations 782 834 
    
 income taxes paid 176 170 
 interest paid 25 25 
 net cash from operating activities 581 639 
additions to fixtures and equipment during the year amounting to £22m 2007 £17m were financed by new finance leases  
cash and cash equivalents which are presented as a single class of assets on the face of the balance sheet comprise cash at bank 
and other shortterm highly liquid investments with a maturity of three months or less 
31 contingent liabilities  
the company is party with other group companies to cross guarantees of each other’s bank loans commitments and overdrafts of 
£270m 2007 £190m 
the company and various of its subsidiaries are from time to time party to legal proceedings and claims that are in the ordinary 
course of business the directors do not anticipate that the outcome of these proceedings and claims either individually or in 
aggregate will have a material adverse effect on the group’s financial position 
contingent consideration relating to acquisitions has been accrued at the directors’ best estimate of the likely future obligation of £209m 
per note 26 the actual amounts payable may vary up to a maximum of £312m dependent upon the results of the acquired businesses 
in addition the group and its subsidiaries have provided guarantees and indemnities in respect of performance issued by financial 
institutions on its behalf amounting to £92m 2007 £190m in the ordinary course of business these are not expected to result in any 
material financial loss 
32 operating lease arrangements 
the group as lessee 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 minimum lease payments under operating leases recognised in income for the year 52 44 
at the balance sheet date the group had total outstanding aggregate commitments for future minimum lease payments under non
cancellable operating leases which fall due as follows 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 within one year 15 15 
 in the second to fifth years inclusive 58 48 
 after five years 76 62 
  149 125   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 85 
33 sharebased payments 
equitysettled share option schemes 
the company has five share option schemes 
the mitie group plc long term incentive plan ltip 
the ltip was introduced in july 2007 following shareholder approval at the agm the awards of shares or rights to acquire shares the 
awards are offered to a small number of key senior management where offered as options the exercise price is nil the vesting period 
is three years if the awards remain unexercised after a period of four years from the date of grant the awards expire the awards may 
be forfeited if the employee leaves the group before the awards can be exercised a performance condition must be satisfied the 
number of awards that vest is determined by a sliding scale of between 50 and 140 above the retail price index per annum 
compound growth in earnings per share over a threeyear period 
the mitie group plc 1991 executive share option scheme  
the executive share option scheme is open to all employees the exercise price is equal to the market value of the shares on the date 
of grant the vesting period is three years if the options remain unexercised after a period of ten years from the date of grant the 
options expire options may be forfeited if the employee leaves the group no options have been granted under this scheme since 
august 2001 
the mitie group plc 2001 executive share option scheme  
the executive share option scheme is open to all employees the exercise price is equal to the market value of the shares on the date of 
grant the vesting period is three years if the options remain unexercised after a period of ten years from the date of grant the options 
expire options may be forfeited if the employee leaves the group before options can be exercised the performance condition that must 
be satisfied is that the percentage growth in the earnings per share over a threeyear period must be equal or greater than 100 per 
annum compound in respect of awards prior to 26 july 2007 and 40 above the retail price per annum thereafter 
the mitie group plc 1991 and 2001 savings related share option scheme 
the savings related share option scheme is open to all employees the exercise price is not less than 800 of the market value of the 
shares on the day preceding the date on which invitations to participate in the scheme are issued the vesting period is five years if 
the options remain unexercised after a period of five years and nine months from the date of grant the options expire options may be 
forfeited if the employee leaves the group no options have been granted under the 1991 scheme since august 2001 
details of the share options outstanding during the year are as follows 
   2008  2007 
  
number of 
share 
options 
million 
weighted 
average 
exercise 
price in p 
number of 
share 
options 
million 
weighted 
average 
exercise 
price in p 
 outstanding at beginning of the year  129 143 123 130 
 granted during the year 45 194 39 177 
 forfeited during the year 16 148 14 141 
 exercised during the year 20 116 19 125 
 outstanding at the end of the year
i
 138 163 129 143 
      
 exercisable at the end of the year 17 132 17 126 
i
 included within this balance are 08m 2007 23m options that have not been recognised in accordance with ifrs 2 as the options were granted on or 
before 7 november 2002 these options have not been subsequently modified and therefore do not need to be accounted for in accordance with ifrs 2 
the group recognised the following expenses related to sharebased payments 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 long term incentive plan share options 04 – 
 2001 executive share options 05 06 
 2001 savings related share options 06 05 
  15 11 
the weighted average share price at the date of exercise for share options exercised during the year was 264p 2007 216p the 
options outstanding at 31 march 2008 had exercise prices ranging from 58p – 254p 2007 58p – 191p and a weighted average 
remaining contractual life of 51 years 2007 51 years in the year ended 31 march 2008 options were granted in july and august 2007 
in respect of the ltip executive and savings related share option schemes the aggregate of the estimated fair values of the options 
granted on those dates is £30m in the year ended 31 march 2007 options were granted in june and july 2006 in respect of the 
executive and savings related share option schemes the aggregate of the estimated fair values of the options granted on those dates 
is £15m 
the fair value of options is measured by use of the blackscholes model the inputs into the blackscholes model are as follows 
  2008 2007 
 share price p 133–230 130–193 
 exercise price p 0–254 120–191 
 expected volatility  27–30 28–30 
 expected life years 4–6 4–6 
 riskfree rate  417–525 417–512 
 expected dividends  143–229 143–229 
expected volatility was based upon the historical volatility over the expected life of the schemes the expected life is based upon 
historical data and has been adjusted based on management’s best estimates for the effects of nontransferability exercise restrictions 
and behavioural considerations  notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 
86 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
34 retirement benefit schemes  
defined contribution schemes 
the group operates a number of defined contribution retirement benefit schemes for qualifying employees the assets of the schemes 
are held separately from those of the group in funds controlled by the scheme providers  
defined benefit schemes 
group defined benefit schemes 
the group operates two defined benefit pension schemes called the mitie group plc pension scheme and the mitie group plc 
passport pension scheme where mitie group plc is the principal employer 
the assets of the schemes are held separately from the group contributions to the schemes are charged to the income statement so 
as to spread the cost of pensions over the employees’ working lives with the group  
under the schemes the employees are entitled to retirement benefits varying between 0 and 66 of final salary on attainment of a 
retirement age of 65 no other postretirement benefits are provided the schemes are funded schemes 
the most recent actuarial valuations of the group schemes’ assets and the present value of their defined benefit obligations were 
carried out at 1 april 2005 by mr david higgs fellow of the institute of actuaries 
other defined benefit schemes 
grouped together under ‘other schemes’ are three 2007 two schemes in which the group is a participating employer and several 
schemes to which the group makes contributions under admitted body status to our customers’ defined benefit schemes in respect of 
certain tupe employees these valuations are updated by the actuaries at each balance sheet date the present values of the defined 
benefit obligations the related current service cost and past service cost were measured using the projected unit credit method 
for the admitted body schemes principally the west midlands pension fund which are all part of the local government pension 
scheme the group will only participate for a finite period up to the end of the contracts the group is required to pay regular 
contributions as decided by the relevant scheme actuaries and detailed in the schemes’ schedule of contributions in a number of 
cases contributions payable by the employer are capped and any excess recovered from the body that the employees transferred 
from in addition in certain cases at the end of the contract the group will be required to pay any deficit as determined by the 
scheme actuary that is remaining for its notional section of the scheme 
  group schemes other schemes 
  
2008 
 
2007 
 
2008 
 
2007 
 
 key assumptions used for ias 19 valuation     
 discount rate 630 530 630 530 
 expected return on scheme assets     
 equity instruments 800 800 800 800 
 debt instruments 500 500 500 500 
 property 750 750 750 750 
 other assets 525 525 525 525 
 expected rate of salary increases 430 400 380 375 
 future pension increases  330 300 330 300 
the overall expected return on assets is calculated as the weighted average of the expected return of each asset class the expected 
return on equities is the sum of dividend growth and capital growth net of investment expenses the return on gilts and bonds is the 
current market yield on longterm bonds the expected return on property has been set equal to that expected on equities less a 
margin the expected return on other assets is the rate earned by the scheme on cash 
amounts recognised in administrative expenses in respect of these defined benefit schemes are as follows 
    2008   2007 
  
group 
schemes 
£m 
other 
schemes 
£m 
total 
£m 
group 
schemes 
£m 
other 
schemes 
£m 
total 
£m 
 current service cost  32 20 52 32 15 47 
 interest cost  45 33 78 37 27 64 
 expected return on scheme assets  62 47 109 53 40 93 
  15 06 21 16 02 18   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 87 
34 retirement benefit schemes continued 
amounts recognised in the consolidated statement of recognised income and expense are as follows 
    2008   2007 
  
group 
schemes 
£m 
other 
schemes 
£m 
total 
£m 
group 
schemes 
£m 
other 
schemes 
£m 
total 
£m 
 actual return on scheme assets 18 13 05 48 40 88 
 expected return on scheme assets  62 47 109 53 40 93 
 experience adjustments arising on plan liabilities  120 52 172 32 10 42 
  76 08 68 37 10 47 
the cumulative amount of actuarial gains recognised since 1 april 2004 in the consolidated statement of recognised income and 
expense is £15m 2007 £53m loss  
the amounts included in the balance sheet arising from the group’s obligations in respect of its defined benefit retirement benefit 
schemes are as follows 
    2008   2007 
  
group 
schemes 
£m 
other 
schemes 
£m 
total 
£m 
group 
schemes 
£m 
other 
schemes 
£m 
total 
£m 
 fair value of scheme assets  886 523 1409 832 614 1446 
 present value of defined benefit obligations  787 507 1294 827 606 1433 
 surplus in scheme  99 16 115 05 08 13 
 contract adjustment – 40 40 – 08 08 
 net pension assetliability 99 24 75 05 – 05 
movements in the present value of defined benefit obligations were as follows 
    2008   2007 
  
group 
schemes 
£m 
other 
schemes 
£m 
total 
£m 
group 
schemes 
£m 
other 
schemes 
£m 
total 
£m 
 at 1 april 827 606 1433 722 – 722 
 service cost  32 20 52 32 15 47 
 interest cost  45 33 78 37 27 64 
 reclassification – – – 04 04 – 
 contributions from scheme members  27 05 32 21 05 26 
 actuarial gains and losses  120 82 202 32 03 35 
 benefits paid  24 10 34 13 01 14 
 acquisition of subsidiaries – 45 45 – – – 
 contract transfers – 110 110 – 553 553 
 at 31 march 787 507 1294 827 606 1433 
movements in the fair value of scheme assets were as follows 
    2008   2007 
  
group 
schemes 
£m 
other 
schemes 
£m 
total 
£m 
group 
schemes 
£m 
other 
schemes 
£m 
total 
£m 
 at 1 april 832 614 1446 740 – 740 
 expected return on scheme assets  62 47 109 53 40 93 
 actuarial gains and losses 44 60 104 05 –  05 
 contributions from the sponsoring companies 33 14 47 39 13 52 
 contributions from scheme members  27 05 32 22 05 27 
 reclassification – – – 04 04 – 
 benefits paid  24 10 34 13 01 14 
 acquisition of subsidiaries – 21 21 – – – 
 contract transfers – 108 108 – 553 553 
 at 31 march  886 523 1409 832 614 1446 
  notes to the consolidated financial statements continued 
88 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
34 retirement benefit schemes continued 
the analysis of the scheme assets at the balance sheet date was as follows 
    2008   2007 
  
group 
schemes 
£m 
other 
schemes 
£m 
total 
£m 
group 
schemes 
£m 
other 
schemes 
£m 
total 
£m 
 equity instruments 443 372 815 478 466 944 
 debt instruments 178 81 259 30 76 106 
 property 149 43 192 153 51 204 
 other assets 116 27 143 171 21 192 
 at 31 march  886 523 1409 832 614 1446 
the pension schemes have invested in property occupied by the group with a fair value of £32m 2007 £32m generating rental of 
£03m 2007 £03m at 31 march 2008 the pension schemes held 53000 of mitie group plc shares 2007 nil the pension schemes 
have not invested in any other assets used by the group transactions between the group and the pension schemes are conducted 
at arm’s length 
the mortality for the group schemes is based upon up to date tables which project mortality improvements in the future for a male 
aged 650 years the expected life is 851 years 2007 851 years and for a female aged 650 years the expected life is 880 years 2007 
880 years mortality for the other schemes is that used by the relevant scheme actuary 
the history of experience adjustments is as follows 
    group schemes 
  
2008 
£m 
2007 
£m 
2006 
£m 
2005 
£m 
 fair value of scheme assets 886 832 740 490 
 present value of defined benefit obligations 787 827 722 566 
 surplusdeficit in the scheme 99 05 18 76 
      
 experience adjustments on scheme liabilities  120 32 82 37 
 percentage of scheme liabilities  152 39 114 70 
      
 experience adjustments on scheme assets 41 05 93 23 
 percentage of scheme assets 48 10 126 50 
 
    other schemes 
  
2008 
£m 
2007 
£m 
2006 
£m 
2005 
£m 
 fair value of scheme assets 523 614 – – 
 present value of defined benefit obligations 547 614 –  –  
 deficit in the scheme 24 – – – 
      
 experience adjustments on scheme liabilities 52 10 – – 
 percentage of scheme liabilities  10 16 – – 
      
 experience adjustments on scheme assets 60 – – – 
 percentage of scheme assets 115 – – – 
the estimated contributions expected to be paid to the group schemes during the current financial year are £30m 2007 £34m and 
to other schemes £14m 2007 £12m as at 31 march 2008 contributions of £07m 2007 £05m due in respect of the current reporting 
period had not been paid over to the schemes 
35 related party transactions  
transactions between the company and its subsidiaries which are related parties have been eliminated on consolidation and are not 
disclosed in this note 
no material contract or arrangement has been entered into during the year nor existed at the end of the year in which a director  
had a material interest with the exception of goods and services provided on arm’s length terms to r mcgregorsmith amounting to 
£215000 2007 £nil in the ordinary course of business no balances were outstanding at the year end 
amounts paid to key management personnel are given in the audited section of the directors’ remuneration report during the year 
mitie’s long term incentive plan ltip was introduced and offered to a small group of key senior management   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 89 
36  principal subsidiaries  
the companies set out below are those which were part of the group at 31 march 2008 and in the opinion of the directors significantly 
affected the group’s results and net assets during the year principal subsidiaries are incorporated in the united kingdom shareholdings 
in companies marked  are held directly by mitie group plc  
division activities principal subsidiaries 
at 31 march 2008 
 voting rights 
owned 
at 31 march 2008 
 ordinary shares 
owned 
facilities services offer integrated facilities 
management and a  
range of services including 
asset management energy 
consultancy document 
management front of  
house catering cleaning 
engineering maintenance 
landscaping pest  
control security waste  
and environmental  
management 
 
mitie facilities services ltd formerly mitie 
facilities management ltd 
 
mitie cleaning  support services ltd  
 
mitie services retail ltd  
 
mitie transport services ltd 
  
mitie security holdings ltd  
1000  
 
 
959 
 
582 
 
861 
 
957 
1000 
 
 
959 
 
582 
 
861 
 
999 
property services offer roofing repairs and 
redecoration interior fitout 
plumbing and heating  
social housing maintenance 
and refurbishment and  
fire protection 
 
 
mitie property services uk ltd 
 
mitie interiors ltd 
 
robert prettie  co ltd 
767 
 
540 
 
1000 
767 
 
540 
 
1000 
engineering services offer services including 
mechanical and electrical 
energy generation and 
management technology 
and infrastructure 
 
 
mitie engineering holdings ltd  1000 1000 
the companies listed above represent the principal operating subsidiary companies of the group a full list of subsidiary companies will 
be annexed to the next annual return  independent auditors’ report to the members of mitie group plc 
90 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
we have audited the parent company financial statements of 
mitie group plc for the year ended 31 march 2008 which 
comprise the company balance sheet and the related notes 37 
to 50 these parent company financial statements have been 
prepared under the accounting policies set out therein 
we have reported separately on the group financial statements 
of mitie group plc for the year ended 31 march 2008 and on the 
information in the directors’ remuneration report that is described 
as having been audited  
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body 
in accordance with section 235 of the companies act 1985  
our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to 
the company’s members those matters we are required to state 
to them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose to the 
fullest extent permitted by law we do not accept or assume 
responsibility to anyone other than the company and the 
company’s members as a body for our audit work for this  
report or for the opinions we have formed 
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors 
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report  
the directors’ remuneration report and the parent company 
financial statements in accordance with applicable law and 
united kingdom accounting standards united kingdom 
generally accepted accounting practice are set out in the 
statement of directors’ responsibilities 
our responsibility is to audit the parent company financial 
statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory 
requirements and international standards on auditing uk  
and ireland 
we report to you our opinion as to whether the parent company 
financial statements give a true and fair view and whether the 
parent company financial statements have been properly 
prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 we also 
report to you whether in our opinion the information given in the 
directors’ report is consistent with the parent company financial 
statements the information given in the directors’ report includes 
that specific information presented in the chairman’s statement 
the chief executive’s review the operating review the financial 
review and the corporate governance statement that is cross 
referred from the business review section of the directors’ report 
in addition we report to you if in our opinion the company has 
not kept proper accounting records if we have not received all 
the information and explanations we require for our audit or if 
information specified by law regarding directors’ remuneration 
and other transactions is not disclosed 
we read the other information contained in the annual report  
as described in the contents section and consider whether it  
is consistent with the audited parent company financial 
statements we consider the implications for our report if we 
become aware of any apparent misstatements or material 
inconsistencies with the parent company financial statements 
our responsibilities do not extend to any further information 
outside the annual report 
basis of audit opinion 
we conducted our audit in accordance with international 
standards on auditing uk and ireland issued by the auditing 
practices board an audit includes examination on a test basis  
of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the 
parent company financial statements it also includes an 
assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made  
by the directors in the preparation of the parent company 
financial statements and of whether the accounting policies  
are appropriate to the company’s circumstances consistently 
applied and adequately disclosed 
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the 
information and explanations which we considered necessary  
in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable 
assurance that the parent company financial statements are free 
from material misstatement whether caused by fraud or other 
irregularity or error in forming our opinion we also evaluated the 
overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the parent 
company financial statements 
opinion 
in our opinion 
• the parent company financial statements give a true and  
fair view in accordance with united kingdom generally 
accepted accounting practice of the state of the company’s 
affairs as at 31 march 2008 
• the parent company financial statements have been properly 
prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and 
• the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with 
the parent company financial statements 
 
 
 
 
deloitte  touche llp 
chartered accountants and registered auditors  
bristol united kingdom 
19 may 2008   company balance sheet 
as at 31 march 2008 
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 91 
  notes 
2008 
£m 
2007 
£m 
 fixed assets    
 tangible assets 40 84 20 
 investments in subsidiary undertakings 41 4677 2181 
 total fixed assets  4761 2201 
     
 current assets    
 debtors 42 334 433 
 total current assets  334 433 
     
 total assets  5095 2634 
     
 creditors amounts falling due within one year 43 1331 1140 
 provisions 45 11 03 
 total current liabilities  1342 1143 
     
 net current liabilities  1008 710 
     
 total assets less current liabilities  3753 1491 
     
 creditors amounts falling due after more than one year 44 16 12 
 provisions 45 189 – 
 total liabilities  1547 1155 
     
 net assets  3548 1479 
     
 capital and reserves    
 share capital 46 79 78 
 share premium account 47 190 166 
 merger reserve 47 604 549 
 capital redemption reserve 47 03 03 
 sharebased payments reserve 47 32 22 
 profit and loss account 47 2640 661 
 equity shareholders’ funds   3548 1479 
the financial statements were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 19 may 2008 they were signed on its 
behalf by 
 
 
 
ruby mcgregorsmith suzanne baxter 
chief executive group finance director  notes to the company financial statements 
92 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
37 significant accounting policies 
basis of accounting 
the separate financial statements of the company are presented as required by company law they have been prepared under the 
historical cost convention and in accordance with applicable united kingdom accounting standards and law  
the principal accounting policies are summarised below they have been applied consistently throughout the year and the preceding 
year with the exception of frs 29 ‘financial instruments disclosures’ which was adopted in the current year the company has taken 
advantage of the exemption allowed by paragraph 2d b of frs 29 not to make these disclosures in its own entity financial statements 
as the consolidated financial statements include the required disclosures for the group 
investments 
fixed asset investments in subsidiaries are shown at cost less any provision for impairment  
tangible fixed assets 
tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and any impairment in value depreciation is charged so as to 
write off the cost of the assets over their estimated useful lives and is calculated on a straightline basis as follows 
plant and vehicles – 3–10 years 
software and development costs – 5–10 years 
the carrying values of tangible fixed assets are reviewed for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying 
value may not be recoverable if any such indication exists and where the carrying values exceed the estimated recoverable amount the 
assets or cashgenerating units are written down to their recoverable amount the recoverable amount of tangible fixed assets is the 
greater of net selling price and value in use in assessing value in use the estimated future cash flows are discounted to their present value 
using a pretax discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks specific to the asset 
borrowing costs 
borrowing costs directly attributable to the acquisition construction or production of qualifying assets which are assets that necessarily 
take a substantial period of time to get ready for their intended use or sale are added to the cost of those assets until such time as the 
assets are substantially ready for their intended use or sale all other borrowing costs are recognised in profit or loss in the period in 
which they are incurred 
provisions 
provisions are recognised when the company has a present obligation as a result of a past event and it is probable that an outflow of 
resources embodying economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation and a reliable estimate can be made of the amount 
of the obligation where the company expects some or all of a provision to be reimbursed for example under an insurance contract 
the reimbursement is recognised as a separate asset but only when the reimbursement is virtually certain the expense relating to any 
provision is charged to the profit and loss account net of any reimbursement if the effect of the time value of money is material 
provisions are determined by discounting the expected future cash flows at a pretax rate that reflects current market assessments of 
the time value of money and where appropriate the risks specific to the liability where discounting is used the increase in the 
provision due to the passage of time is recognised as a borrowing cost  
taxation 
current tax is provided at amounts expected to be paid or recovered using the tax rates and laws that have been enacted or 
substantively enacted at the balance sheet date 
deferred tax is provided in full on timing differences that result in an obligation at the balance sheet date to pay more tax or a right to 
pay less tax at a future date at rates expected to apply when they crystallise based on current tax rates and law timing differences 
arise from the inclusion of items of income and expenditure in tax computations in periods different from those in which they are 
included in the financial statements deferred tax is not provided on timing differences arising from the revaluation of fixed assets 
where there is no commitment to sell the asset or on unremitted earnings of subsidiaries and associates where there is no commitment 
to remit these earnings deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is regarded as more likely than not that they will be 
recovered deferred tax assets and liabilities are not discounted 
financial instruments  
trade receivables are measured at initial recognition at fair value appropriate allowances for estimated irrecoverable amounts are 
recognised in the profit and loss account where there is objective evidence that the asset is impaired 
cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and demand deposits and other shortterm highly liquid investments that are 
readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value 
interest bearing bank loans and overdrafts are recorded at the proceeds received net of direct issue costs finance charges including 
premiums payable on settlement or redemption and direct issue costs are accounted for on an accruals basis in the profit and loss 
account and are added to the carrying amount of the instrument to the extent that they are not settled in the period in which they arise 
trade payables are measured at fair value 
equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received net of direct issue costs 
financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised on the company’s balance sheet when the company becomes a party to the 
contractual provisions of the instrument 
sharebased payments 
the company operates a number of executive and employee share option schemes for all grants of share options and awards the 
fair value as at the date of grant is calculated using the blackscholes model and the corresponding expense is recognised on a 
straightline basis over the vesting period options over the company’s shares awarded to employees of the company’s subsidiaries 
are accounted for as a capital contribution within the carrying value of investments in subsidiary undertakings   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 93 
37 significant accounting policies continued 
pensions  
pension costs represent amounts paid to one of the group’s pension schemes for the purposes of frs 17 ‘retirement benefits’ the 
company has been unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities of the main group defined benefit pension 
scheme on a consistent and reasonable basis therefore the company is accounting for contributions to the scheme as if it were a 
defined contribution scheme note 34 to the consolidated financial statements sets out the details of the ias 19 ‘employee benefits’ net 
pension asset of £75m 2007 £05m  
38 profit for the year 
as permitted by section 230 of the companies act 1985 the company has elected not to present its own profit and loss account for 
the year mitie group plc reported a profit after taxation for the financial year ended 31 march 2008 of £270m 2007 £336m before 
an exceptional unrealised gain of £1877m which arose on the insertion of intermediate holding companies within the group  
the auditors’ remuneration for audit services to the company was £40000 2007 £35000  
the average number of persons employed being full time equivalents by the company during the year including directors was 107 
2007 76 
the costs incurred in respect of these employees were 
  
2008 
£m 
2007  
£m 
 wages and salaries 67 64 
 social security costs 08 07 
 pension costs 03 03 
  78 74 
detailed disclosures of directors’ remuneration and share options are given in the audited section of the directors’ remuneration report 
contained in the consolidated financial statements 
39 dividends 
  
2008 
£m 
2007  
£m 
 amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders in the year   
 final dividend for the year ended 31 march 2007 of 27p 2006 24p per share 84 74 
 interim dividend for the year ended 31 march 2008 of 28p 2007 24p per share 89 75 
  173 149 
    
 proposed final dividend for the year ended 31 march 2008 of 32p 2007 27p per share 101 84 
the proposed final dividend is subject to approval by shareholders at the agm and has not been included as a liability in these 
financial statements 
40 tangible fixed assets 
  
plant and 
vehicles  
£m 
software and 
development 
costs  
£m 
total  
£m 
 cost    
 at 1 april 2007 37 – 37 
 additions 04 66 70 
 disposals 04 – 04 
 at 31 march 2008 37 66 103 
     
 accumulated depreciation    
 at 1 april 2007 17 – 17 
 charge for the year 06 – 06 
 disposals 04 – 04 
 at 31 march 2008 19 – 19 
     
 carrying amount    
 at 31 march 2008 18 66 84 
 at 31 march 2007 20 – 20 
  notes to the company financial statements continued 
94 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
41  investments in subsidiary undertakings 
  £m 
 shares at cost  
 at 1 april 2007 2297 
 additions 609 
 increase in investments due to restructuring  1877 
 capital contribution re sharebased payments 10 
 at 31 march 2008 4793 
   
 provision for impairment  
 at 1 april 2007 116 
 at 31 march 2008 116 
   
 carrying amount  
 at 31 march 2008 4677 
 at 31 march 2007 2181 
details of the acquisitions in the year are provided in note 29 of the consolidated financial statements and a listing of principal 
subsidiaries in note 36 
42 debtors 
  
2008 
£m 
2007 
£m 
 amounts owed by subsidiary undertakings 280 347 
 other debtors 15 43 
 prepayments and accrued income 21 24 
 corporation tax 18 19 
  334 433 
the directors consider that the carrying amount of debtors approximates their fair value 
43 creditors amounts falling due within one year 
  
2008 
£m 
2007 
£m 
 trade creditors 08 18 
 amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings 153 155 
 other taxes and social security 25 18 
 overdraft 564 637 
 bank loans 500 200 
 loan notes 31 99 
 deferred tax 03 – 
 accruals and deferred income 47 13 
  1331 1140 
the directors consider that the carrying amount of creditors approximates their fair value 
the company’s bank overdrafts are part of the group’s banking arrangements and are offset against credit balances within the 
group the company has adequate liquidity to discharge all current obligations 
details of the loan note movements in the year are provided in note 22 of the consolidated financial statements 
44 creditors amounts falling due after more than one year 
  
2008 
£m 
2007 
£m 
 unsecured loan notes 16 12 
  16 12 
details of the unsecured loan notes are provided in note 22 of the consolidated financial statements   
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 95 
45 provisions 
  
contingent 
deferred 
consideration 
£m 
 at 1 april 2007 03 
 additional provision in the year 199 
 utilised during the year 02 
 at 31 march 2008 200 
   
 falling due within one year 11 
 falling due after more than one year 189 
  200 
details of provisions are provided in note 26 of the consolidated financial statements 
46 share capital 
 ordinary shares of 25p 
number 
million £m 
 authorised    
 at 1 april 2007 3400 85 
 authorised during the year 1600 40 
 at 31 march 2008 5000 125 
    
 2008   
 allotted and fully paid   
 at beginning of year 3124 78 
 issued for acquisitions 24 01 
 issued under share option schemes 20 – 
 at end of year 3168 79 
    
 2007   
 allotted and fully paid   
 at beginning of year 3088 77 
 issued for acquisitions 17 – 
 issued under share option schemes 19 01 
 at end of year 3124 78 
details of movements in share capital during the year are provided in note 27 of the consolidated financial statements  notes to the company financial statements continued 
96 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008  
47 reserves 
  
calledup 
share 
capital  
£m 
share 
premium 
account  
£m 
merger 
reserve  
£m 
capital 
redemption 
reserve  
£m 
share
based 
payments  
reserve  
£m 
profit and  
loss account
i
£m 
total  
£m 
 at beginning of year  78 166 549 03 22 661 1479 
 
shares issued and net premium arising in 
respect of acquisitions 01 – 55 – – – 56 
 
shares issued and net premium in connection 
with exercise of share options – 24 – – – – 24 
 sharebased payments – – – – 10 05 15 
 profit for the year  – – – – – 270 270 
 unrealised gain on restructuring
i
 – – – – – 1877 1877 
 dividends paid to shareholders – – – – – 173 173 
 balance at 31 march 2008 79 190 604 03 32 2640 3548 
 i
 the unrealised gain on restructuring is nondistributable 
48 contingent liabilities  
details of contingent liabilities have been given in note 31 to the consolidated financial statements 
49 sharebased payments 
equitysettled share option schemes 
the company has five share option schemes as described in note 33 to the consolidated financial statements 
the company recognised the following expenses related to sharebased payments 
  
2008  
£m 
2007  
£m 
 long term incentive plan share options 04 – 
 2001 executive share options 01 01 
 2001 savings related share options 00 00 
  05 01 
the fair value of options is measured by use of the blackscholes model the inputs into the blackscholes model are as described in 
note 33 to the consolidated financial statements 
50 related parties 
directors’ transactions 
details of related party transactions have been given in note 35 to the consolidated financial statements 
the company has taken advantage of the exemption in frs 8 not to disclose transactions with companies within the group  10 milton keynes council
12  communities and  
local government
14 her majesty’s courts services
1 6 hbos
overview
01 highlights
02 mitie at a glance
04 our strategy
06 our performance
08 our services
10 case studies
business review
18 chairman’s statement 
20 chief executive’s review
24 operating review
32 financial review
36 corporate responsibility
corporate 
governance
4 1  corporate governance 
statement
46  statement of principal 
risks and uncertainties
48 board of directors
49 directors’ report
52  directors’ remuneration 
report
accounts
60  independent auditors’ 
report to the members  
of mitie group plc
61  consolidated income 
statement
62  consolidated statement 
of recognised income 
and expense
63  consolidated balance 
sheet
64 	 	 c o n s o l i d a t e d 	 c a s h 	 fl o w	
statement
65  notes to the consolidated 
fi n a n c i a l 	 s t a t em en t s
90  independent auditors’ 
report to the members  
of mitie group plc
91  company balance sheet
92  notes to the company 
fi n a n c i a l 	 s t a t em en t s
97  shareholder information
cautionary statement
the annual report and accounts contain forward looking 
statements such statements do not relate strictly to 
h i s t o r i c a l 	 o r 	 c u r r e n t 	 f a c t s 	 a n d 	 c a n 	 b e 	 i d e n t i fi e d 	 b y 	 t h e	
use of words such as ‘anticipate’ ‘expect’ ‘intend’ ‘will’ 
’project’ ‘plan’ and ‘believe’ and other words of similar 
meaning in connection with any discussion of future 
events these statements are made by the directors of 
mitie group plc in good faith based on the information 
available to them as at the date of approval of this 
report and will not be updated during the year these 
statements by their nature involve risk and uncertainty 
because they relate to and depend upon events that 
may or may not occur in the future actual events may 
differ materially from those expressed or implied in this 
report and accordingly all such statements should be 
treated with caution nothing in this report should be 
construed 	 as 	 a 	 pr ofit 	 for ecast
printed 	 on 	 t ake 	 2 	 silk 	 and 	 of fset 	 which 	 is 	 made 	 fr om 	 75 	 and 	 100 	 r ecycled 	 fibr es	 
sour ced 	 only 	 fr om 	 post 	 consumer 	 waste 	 t ake 	 2 	 is 	 certified 	 accor ding 	 to 	 the 	 rules	 
for the forest stewardship council
i f 	 y o u 	 h a v e 	 fi n i s h e d 	 r e a d i n g 	 t h e 	 r e p o r t 	 a n d 	 n o 	 l o n g e r 	 w i s h 	 t o 	 r e t a i n 	 i t 	 p l e a s e 	 p a s s 	 i t 	 o n	 
to other interested readers or dispose of it in your recycled paper waste thank you
designed by luminouscouk
printed by mitie document solutions
40
cert nocgscoc2958
shareholder information
results
2008 interim management statement  1 february 2008 
2008 preliminary statement of annual results  19 may 2008  
2009 interim management statement 31 july 2008 
2009 halfyearly results  24 november 2008
dividends
2008 halfyearly dividend 28p 2007 24p paid 8 february 2008 
2008 final proposed 32p 2007 27p ex dividend date 2 july 2008 
 record date 4 july 2008 
 last date for receiptrevocation of drip dividend mandate 14 july 2008 
 payment date 4 august 2008
annual general meeting 31 july 2008 
the merchants’ hall 
the promenade 
clifton down 
bristol  
bs8 3nh
capital history
mid market price 2 april 2001date of subdivision 15250p 
mid market price 31 march 2008 24200p 
2008 lowhigh 22325p28700p
registrars
computershare investor services plc t 0870 702 0010 
the pavilions wwwcomputersharecom 
bridgwater road 
bristol 
bs13 8ae
company
mitie group plc t 0117 970 8800 
8 monarch court f 0117 302 6743 
the brooms e groupmitiecouk 
emerson green wwwmitiecouk 
bristol 
bs16 7fh registered number sc 19230
dividend reinvestment plan
mitie group plc has set up a dividend reinvestment plan drip to enable you to build your shareholding by using your cash dividends 
under a standing election to buy additional shares in mitie group plc if you would like to receive further information including details  
of how to apply please call 0870 707 1158 or apply online at wwwcomputersharecominvestoruk
ecommunications
by choosing to receive your shareholder communications such as annual reports by email you would help 
• 	 reduce 	 the 	 amount 	 of 	 paper 	 that 	 mitie 	 uses
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information on the group
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 97  profitability 
fresh thinking 
sustainability 
people passion 
exciting futures 
stakeholders 
growth
mitie group plc  
annual report and accounts 2008
mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008
mitie group plc
8 monarch court 
the brooms 
emersons green 
bristol 
bs16 7fh
t 01 17 970 8800 
f 01 17 302 67 43 
e groupmitiecouk
wwwmitiecouk


Summary:
 mitie group plc annual report and accounts 2008 1 
overview
highlights 
we have achieved another year of strong proﬁ table growth revenue is up 145 to £14072m and operating proﬁ t 
before amortisation is up 205 to £722m these results have driven earnings per share before other items up 211 
to 149p per share and our full year dividend up 176 to 60p per share
our order book has grown to £44bn 2007 £41bn and we have secured 78 of our budgeted revenue for the year 
ending 31 march 2009 2007 75
our balance sheet remains strong and we have capacity for growth we have low levels of gearing with net debt at 
£156m 2007 £81m and our pension funds are in net surplus we remain focused on the achievement of sustainable 
proﬁ table growth
08
07
06
05
04
03
6945
5658
7997
9356
12288
14072
08
07
06
05
04
03
387
326
443
483
599
722
08
07
06
05
04
03
83
73
88
99
123
149
08
07
06
05
04
03
25
19
34
43
51
60
revenue £m
£14072m
145
operating proﬁ t before 
amortisation £m
£722m
205
earnings per share before 
other items £m
149p
211
dividend per share p
60p
176
 other items are noncash acquisition related items being amortisation of intangible assets and unwinding of discount on deferred contingent consideration