Sarah Smart

All decisions require managers to predict the future to some extent, either for a short time or for a long time into the future. In my current role as Supervisor at a Hertz branch, I am constantly ‘looking into the future’ to predict fleet availability, reservation numbers, staff requirements, and fleet requests. Practically all decisions I make require me to predict the future to an extent; if I get a call to make a reservation, I need to predict whether or not I will have availability, if I have a vehicle requiring maintenance or repairs, I need to decide the best day to organise this based on the reservations on the day and staffing levels, or even if a dodgy person tries to hire a car, I need to predict whether the car will come back in one piece or if it will end up ‘stolen’ and found burnt out on a random back road (ha ha not funny – happened too many times for my liking). I think you will find that in most jobs, future prediction is a requirement and the more you practice, the...

I struggled with this step; I am honestly still not even sure if I have done this correctly. But it is better to give the wrong answer than it is to give no answer at all. I have developed two options for capital investment decisions for Taylor Wimpey PLC. The first is to open a branch of operations in Birmingham, allowing for a new target location which will increase the amount of projects and in turn, increasing profit. The second option is something completely different; investing in a retirement village. While Taylor Wimpey is generally focused on private housing projects, they are also known to develop commercial facilities, roads, and parks – all of which can be found in retirement villages. As the UK is generally an aging population with the trend set to increase, investing in a retirement facility aligns well with the local demographic and will provide a stable long-term demand. Looking at figure 1, the table shows a thorough comparison between the two potential business ...

  Gross profit margin is one of the key metrics used to measure a firm’s profitability, providing valuable insights into operational efficiencies and strategies. Over the last four years there has been a steady decline in the gross profit margins, with a significant drop in profit and revenue. There are multiple reasons for revenue to decline in the housing and construction sector which I will discuss shortly. Net profit margin is the percentage of profit made after all expenses have been paid. Considering the gross profit margin, it is no surprise that net profit margin is also showing a decline in performance, with a margin of only 6.5% in 2024. Return on assets measures the effectiveness of how a firm uses assets to generate profit. Again, we are seeing a serious decline in this section, with only 3.5% meaning Taylor Wimpey is generating less profit per pound ( £ ) of assets used. So what is the cause of decline? Asset returns and profit margins declining usually sugges...

  Three products or services Taylor Wimpey PLC offers are starter homes, family homes, and doctor’s offices. I chose doctor’s offices specifically to include some variations in my comparisons. My estimated selling prices and variable costs for each are based on the current UK housing and commercial real estate pricing, and the typical construction costs (construction materials, labour costs, permits, waste management, etc) for the area:   Estimated Selling Price: Estimated Variable Costs: Starter Homes £230,000 £170,000 Family Homes £350,000 £240,000 Doctor’s Offices £500,000 £360,000   To find the Contribution Margins (CM) and complete table 2 , I used the following formulas: Contribution Margin (£) = Selling Price – Variable Costs Contribution Margin (%) = (Contribution Margin / Selling Price) x 100 e.g. Starter Homes: 230,000 – 170,...