Despite the challenging market, VolkerWessels UK raised pre-tax profit by more than a third to £38m last year.

Key operations in rail, building, marine and energy infrastructure all enjoyed revenue growth helping the UK arm of the Dutch group to raise revenue 17% to £1.35bn. Highways and airport revenue slightly down on last year.

The main driver of growth was VolkerFitzpatrick, which saw revenue practically double to £337m, lifted by biopharma, warehouse and film studio projects.

VolkerWessels divisional revenue

2022

2021

Rail infrastructure
£494m
£469m

Highways and airports
£324m
£346m

Building commercial, industrial and education
£337m
£170m

Marine, water, environment and energy
£193m
£166m

CEO Richard Offord, who took the helm a year ago after 32 years at firm, said that the increase in operating profit margin from 2.4% to 2.8% was driven by a lag in overheads growth compared to revenue growth.

He said: “All of our businesses contributed positively to these results through the delivery of quality projects and services in their
specific markets, with a few projects in the marine and energy sectors generating losses during the year, which were mitigated by strong performance elsewhere in the business.

“We are seeing ever increasing levels of collaboration between our businesses, combining our main contractor strengths with the specialist skills that we have in-house, and offering added value and expertise for our clients in this way.”

Looking ahead VolkerWessells maintained a strong orderbook at year end at £1.73bn, down from £1.77bn in the prior period.

Cash improved rising 8% to £147m.