Liverpool health cash plan provider Medicash says annual revenues are up almost 25% to a record £51m as the business returns to profit. Tony McDonough reports

Medicash says it returned to profit in 2023 after reporting a £2.2m pre-tax loss in 2022.

Pret-tax profits for the year to December 31, 2023, hit £1.8m while revenues soared almost 25% to a record £51m. And the Liverpool-based business added that the surge in demand for company funded health cover shows “no signs of slowing down”.

In 2023 Medicash also acquired its One Derby Square home – the former Pearl Assurance House – in the city centre for £12m. Owning the 70,161 sq ft building saves it around £200,000 a year in rent and provides a rental income stream from other tenants.

High-profile tenants such as Tesco, Pret a Manger and Exchange Chambers. Medicash moved into the location 12 years ago from nearby Lord Street.

Founded in the charity hospitals of Liverpool in 1871, Medicash has become the UK’s oldest and largest corporate health cash plan provider. In 2023 it saw a net increase of 105,000 new policyholders.

It is the second year in a row that the business has seen net growth of more than 100,000 policyholders, largely driven by increased demand from businesses across the UK looking to put a low-cost health plan in place to care for their employees.

In total, Medicash’s policy base increased by 21.7% to reach 586,470 at the end of 2023. Claim payouts increased by £10.6m. Medicash also picked up eight industry awards in 2023, plus a further five in the first six months of 2024.

Paul Gambon, sales and marketing director, said: “The demand for employee health benefits has surged in recent years as more employers are looking for affordable solutions to support the health and wellbeing of their entire workforce.

“A health cash plan provides the perfect means of doing this, with over 900 new companies signing up to a Medicash health plan in 2023.

“The tremendous period of growth that we’ve seen demonstrates how employers, and their workforce, value our health plans.”

Directors’ remuneration for the year, including salaries and pension benefits, totalled £895,000. The highest paid director received £375,000.

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Andy Roberts, finance and IT director at Medicash, added: “Despite seeing such seismic growth in our customer base, investment in digital innovation and back-office systems have allowed us to service this growth in policyholders whilst maintaining our high levels of customer service.

“They’ve also allowed us to maintain one of the lowest operating expense ratios in the industry of just 23.1%, helping us to remain one of the most competitive health cash plan providers in the market.”