A CONSTRUCTION firm has seen the fruits of its continued investment after reporting an increase in turnover and profits despite the challenges facing the industry.

Contractor The Owen Pugh Group today reported a seven per cent increase in turnover to £25.8m, and announced pre-tax profits of £894,684 and a significant improvement in operating margin for the financial year 2011 to 2012.

The firm, which employs 340 people from five sites across the region, has expanded during the April 2011 to March 2012 trading period, launching civil engineering main contractor Owen Pugh Construction, which recorded a first year turnover of £2.1m after securing major projects including the Nissan car park extension, the Spanish City link road and Neasham flood defence works.

The division also secured a £1.54m project with the National Trust to carry out improvements to the Gibside Estate.

The division has also been able to create opportunities for its sister companies and this impact has been particularly significant within Owen Pugh GDC, the company’s civil engineering division which specialises in drainage, groundworks and environmental projects. Owen Pugh GDC recorded a turnover of £8.1m during 2011 to 2012, representing an increase of almost 29 per cent on the previous year. John Dickson, chairman of the Owen Pugh Group, said the business has been able to deliver this impressive growth due to its commitment to excellent customer service, a strong asset base and a good spread of clients and business.

He said: “Despite the toughest economic conditions in memory Owen Pugh Group continues to grow as a result of continued investment across all of our businesses.

“To achieve a turnover of almost £26million, a marked increase on the previous year at a time when trading conditions remain challenging, is certainly something we can all be proud of.

“We remain committed to delivering projects on-time, on-budget and to the highest standards of quality and maintaining our reputation as a leading force within the North-East civil engineering industry.”

Mr Dickson, who is also chairman of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), said although he welcomed moves by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to attract public funding to the region over the past 12 months, more could be done by the Government to help the construction sector.

The organisation is leading a campaign to get the construction sector and the region’s Local Enterprise Partnerships to work together to attract funding for small to medium-sized projects.

“In 2009, infrastructure represented only three per cent of construction output in the North-East compared with ten per cent in the UK as a whole,” he said.

“Investment in infrastructure is a clear way in which to generate economic growth and there is plenty of evidence to say that more investment is required in areas including potholes, culverts and flood defences.

“The greatest impact can be generated with a reasonable number of smaller infrastructure projects, which can be started quickly, be executed in the main by local contractors and supply chain and which can quickly generate jobs and economic activity.”

As for the future of Owen Pugh, the company intends to continue developing new business contacts and forging strategic partnerships and will continue to invest in people, plant, equipment and technology.

“With satellite guided construction plant, robotic survey equipment and advanced scheduling software for trucks, we are determined to improve both operating efficiency and the quality of customer service across the group.

“We aim to be the civil engineering contractor of choice from the Humber to the Tweed,” said Mr Dickson.