Stonemartin, the facilities management company that looks after Institute of Directors hub sites including Birmingham has narrowed its first half losses by a third.

In the six months to June 30, its group operating loss fell from £1.3 million to £800,000.

It also opened two new buildings - Davidson House in Reading and New Broad Street House in the City - as well as acquiring new premises at Temple Circus in Bristol.

Birmingham led the way in occupancy levels, notching up the best performance of all the company's sites.

Victoria Square had occupancy levels of 87 per cent in September, a figure which dipped slightly to 86 per cent last month.

This compared with Bristol occupancy of 66 per cent, Manchester 63 per cent, Reading 27 per cent and 27 per cent for the City site in November.

Overall building management fees rose by 119 per cent from £313,000 to £685,000 in the period and there was a fall in administration costs of 44 per cent to £794,000.

The results for the period show a loss on ordinary activities before taxation of £800,000 compared with a 2004 loss of £200,000, a performance which included a £1.1 million exceptional profit from the sale of its subsidiary TDI Corporation.

Colin Peacock, managing director of Stonemartin, said the maturity of the Birmingham site - that it was three years old - accounted for its greater popularity. He would not be drawn on when the company would make a profit.

He said: "Yet again, this has been another six months of considerable progress by the group, with a significant expansion of our network.

"A report by DTZ, the international property advisors, records Stonemartin as the fourth largest operator in the flexibly managed office market in the UK.

"We have launched two new centres, Davidson House in Reading and New Broad Street House in the City of London, both of which are already witnessing contracted occupancy levels well ahead of expectations.

"We have continued to refine and customise our product to meet the high standards demanded by our customers."