Turnover at the construction arm last year increased to £59.8m from £50.3m in 2021 as the business recovered post pandemic.

The construction performance helped underlying trading profits at Eric Wright Group increase to £11.9m from £10.2m.

John Hartnett, Managing Director of Eric Wright Construction, said:  “Achieving positive results and a return to profit in such a challenging market is a reflection of the strategy the construction division has been implementing.

“We’ve focussed on the effective delivery of secured work rather than simply increasing turnover with projects that deliver sub-optimum margins or expose the business to unquantifiable risk.

“The environment continues to be extremely challenging as a result of persistent inflation and interest rates which challenge the viability of development projects.

“Our strategy, combined with strong commercial and operational control, active overhead management and a motivated and committed workforce creating a sustainably profitable business.  The outlook is extremely positive with a secured order book in excess of £85million for 2023.”