Announcing its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2017, the firm revealed that its number of employees fell to 56,279 from 59,332 in 2016.

Mitie also confirmed an operating loss of £42.9m during the year from a £107.6m profit as turnover remained stable at £2.14bn.

Pre-tax losses were recorded for the year at £193.4m.

The £45m cost reduction programme, known as Project Helix, was launched by Phil Bentley as part of the Beyond FM…to the Connected Workspace strategy after he replaced Ruby McGregor-Smith as chief executive in December 2016.

The strategy involves introducing more technology into operations, from hand-held devices for capturing and recording data to using drones for pest control.

Chief executive Phil Bentley said: “This has been a challenging year for Mitie.

“We have reported a loss as a result of the one-off accounting adjustments arising from the Accounting Review.

“We are now focused on the future of the business and I am encouraged that our Order Book has held up and our Pipeline is growing.

“Following a full strategic review we are investing in technology in the workspace to meet our customers’ evolving needs and we are embarking on a major cost reduction programme.

“With the support of our 53,000 colleagues, we will take Mitie “Beyond FM…to the Connected Workspace”.

In the results statement, the Board said: “Over the next 12 months, our focus is on getting the basics right. The business is embarking on a multi-year transformation programme, designed to standardise and simplify our operations to deliver the most efficient and effective service, at the lowest cost to our clients.

“This will begin with the integration of our core workforce, to create a highly flexible and skilled team with the optimal support systems. We will automate work flow management for scheduling, tasking and billing. Our engineers will have the necessary training and tools to operate in the safest and most effective manner and deliver the highest quality of service for our customers.

“Longer term, our vision is to use technology to link outputs to the Connected Workspace, providing the most responsive and valued service in the market. By using a combination of existing building systems and environment sensors, along with energy data, asset data, and workplace data, we will provide tailored solutions to suit each client’s unique requirements.”