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Support services group Lakehouse has announced it is to leave the main stock market and join AIM, believing it will reap 鈥渟ignificant benefits鈥� from the move.

Following a review of the business, management determined AIM was a 鈥渕ore appropriate market for a company of Lakehouse鈥檚 size鈥�, enabling it to attract investors without the need for costly prospectus documentation.

The company said it expected its shares to commence trading on AIM on 2 May.

鈥淭here will be significant benefits from the proposed move to AIM, which will enable the company to more effectively deliver value to all of its stakeholders, including shareholders,鈥� it said in a statement.

Lakehouse also revealed details of a new contract worth 拢39m to supply smart meters to Scottish Power customers in the West Midlands.

Starting in May, the four-year deal will involve the installation of some 400,000 meters, comprising both smart meters and 鈥榖usiness as usual鈥� installations.

In January Lakehouse announced a 54% slump in underlying pre-tax profit for the year to September 2016 to 拢9.9m, on underlying revenue of 拢305.8m, down 9.2%.

At the time of the results announcement Holt said the 2016 financial year had been 鈥渃hallenging鈥� for the group, 鈥渂ut one we believe will prove to be transformational, having focused on reviewing the strategy of the group, stabilising operational performance with a view to improvement and controlling costs at every level, whilst retaining a high quality of client service鈥�.

Bob Holt, Lakehouse鈥檚 executive chairman, said the Scottish Power contract 鈥渞eaffirms our strategy of becoming a best in class supplier in the energy services market鈥�.

He added: 鈥淓lsewhere the group is performing to the board鈥檚 expectations as a result of the strategic initiatives implemented in each division and we expect a strong second half performance from the group as previously indicated.

鈥淲e remain focused on restoring shareholder value by delivering against our organic growth strategy.鈥�