OWEN Pugh is fighting off the continued tough outlook in construction to boost turnover and profits and says it has a strong order book for the winter months.
The North East civil engineering contractor, which is based in Dudley, Northumberland, said turnover jumped by 7% to almost £25.8m, while pre-tax profits increased from £635,000 to £895,000 in the year to the end of March.
During the period, it launched civil engineering main contractor Owen Pugh Construction, which recorded a first year turnover of £2.1m after securing major projects including expanding the car park at the Nissan factory in Washington, the Spanish City link road in North Tyneside and flood defence works at Neasham, near Darlington. Since the end of the financial year, the division has won a £1.54m project with the National Trust to carry out improvements at the Gibside Estate in Gateshead. Owen Pugh Construction has also created opportunities for its sister companies, including drainage specialist Owen Pugh GDC, which boosted turnover by more than a quarter to £8.1m.
Owen Pugh chairman John Dickson said: “It is an improvement and we are very pleased to record it. But we’re not dancing and singing in the aisles – they are very low figures.
“Along with other companies, we have struggled in the last few years. We are fortunate in that we have won market share in industrial and commercial development and there in more life in those sectors.
“We are in a reasonably strong position looking forward to the winter; we’ve won a couple of decent orders in the last few weeks. We are fit and healthy and we hopefully be able to continue our growth.”
