But chief executive Bob Vickers is bullish about future prospects thanks to a strong pipeline of secured orders.

Clugston recorded a £1m pre-tax profit on a turnover of £118.2m last year compared to £2.2m on £143.4m the previous year.

Vickers now hopes tuurnover will bounce back to hit £170m.

He said: “Whilst a challenging year, primarily due to delayed projects, our strong results are a reflection of the quality of our people across the Group.

“We have delivered another strong financial performance, with solid profitability, substantial cash balances of £18m and no bank borrowings.”

“We remain very positive about the opportunities to grow the business and with a forward order book already secured sufficient to generate a turnover in excess of £170m this current term, we are well positioned to capitalise on the growth potential in our target markets, with a substantial pipeline in place for the following years.”

The main construction recorded a turnover of £101.6m last year.