Latest accounts for the parent BAM Construct UK group show the construction building arm recovered from a £2.4 loss in 2019 – due to a £30m provision on its Sheffield University job – to £8.4m profit.

Revenues across the BAM Construct UK group as a whole, including design, construction, facilities management and property development businesses, slid by 15% to £793.1m while pre-tax profit increased to £13.7m (2019: £9.4m). 

A spate of big project wins has swelled BAM’s order book to £1.47bn (2019: £1.4bn). Of new work won in 2020, 58% was for public sector clients and 42% was for private sector clients.

This included a project to build the world’s most sustainable film studios for Sky Studios, Central House offices in London, Derby Cathedral Free School, and the Clydebank Health Centre.

Subsequent to year-end BAM Construction has also picked up the £250m-plus deal for the Manchester Arena.

The year-end cash balance remained stable at £81m (2019: £86m).

James Wimpenny, BAM Construct UK’s chief executive, said the second half of 2020 saw BAM return to more normal levels of productivity after business streamlining saw 150 redundancies.

He said: “We entered 2021 as a strong business and have proven to be very resilient, supported by a healthy order book and balance sheet.

“We remained profitable and continued operating and winning high quality new business because of the resilience and loyalty of our people, our focus on strong client relationships, a commitment to selective tendering, and because we delivered safely, efficiently and sustainably.”

During the year BAM improved payment times to its supply chain from 39 days to an average of 36 days.