Pre-tax profits were up 10% to £7.8m for the year to December 31 2018 as turnover rose 5% to £326.8m.

TClarke also confirmed a record order book of £430m at the end of February and said it “is well placed to meet its financial objective of a sustainable 3% operating margin in 2019.”

The operating margin in 2018 was 2.7% up from 2.3% the previous year.

Chief executive Mark Lawrence said: “We continue to focus on cash collection and remain debt free.

“Our clients recognise this as a strength of our business, reflected by the fact 88% of our revenue comes from repeat clients.

“Our shareholders also benefit, as our strong cash performance has allowed us to recommend a total dividend for the year of 4.0p per share, exceeding market expectations.

“Our teams across the UK have delivered an exceptional performance and, looking ahead to 2019, with a record forward order book as at the end of February of £430 million, the foundations are in place for another strong performance across the Group.

“TClarke remains firmly on target to achieve our medium-term goal of a sustainable underlying operating margin of 3%.”

TClarke is continuing expansion outside its core London market and has opened offices in Manchester and Liverpool.