Latest published accounts for the year to March 2022, reveal pre-tax profit soared to £18.1m from just £1.1m in the prior year.

A mix of strong organic growth and acquisitions fuelled sales growth with revenue jumping around 70% to £410m.

During the year, the group acquired arboriculture and infrastructure vegetation management company Eos and Capital Traffic Management.

The strong improvement saw group operating margin double to 6.7%.

Dan Holland, chief executive of Network Plus said: “The directors have an ambitious plan to grow the group significantly over the coming years.

“The trading prospects in current markets are positive. Our order book is strong having been successful in a number of new work tenders during the year, and also, work volumes increasing on mature contracts.

“We are well positioned to embark on the next phase of our development through organic growth, selective bidding of new opportunities and potential acquisitions that will expand our range of services and our customer base.

“Our focus will remain on those markets where non-discretionary spending programmes exist to maintain critical infrastructure.”

Total staff numbers doubled to around 2,300.