Revenue reported by the housing groundworks contractor’s holding group fell by around a quarter to £334m.

This fall in sales led to operational inefficiencies, which together with high market inflation, contributed to trading losses for the year to December 2023 of £2.7m, compared with an operating profit of £22.6m in the prior year.

After payments of interest on loans and finance of around £18m pre-tax losses dived to £21m from the previous 13-month period in 2022, which recorded a £5.2m profit.

The Walsall-based firm, which acquired Swindon-based rival Flynn Group in 2021, said reported headcount at the business fell by over 90 to 426 staff.

Chief executive Chris Southgate said: “Overall this was a challenging year for the group and house building industry in general which has seen considerable reduction in the volume of work for groundworks.

“This reduction in volume has invariably led to operational inefficiencies, which combined with significant inflation, the majority of which has not been recovered from clients, has resulted in a reduction in margin.”

He added: “However, despite the challenging environment seen in 2023, the business remains committed to its plan for growth and efficiency and to this end set-up the new Eastern Counties region in the latter half of the year.

“This will cover an approximate fifty-mile radius from the new office in Huntingdon and brings the total number of regions to seven.

“Looking forward, the group remains positive following recent inflation and mortgage rates reductions and together with the continued severe housing shortage seen across the UK, it anticipates improvements in house sales and build rates during 2024 with a more sustained recovery in 2025.”