A GROUP in line for the contract to paint the UK’s new aircraft carriers said it was well placed to ride out the recession.

Industrial services company Pyeroy Group yesterday announced pre-tax profits of more than £4.5m for last year, nearly eight per cent up on the previous year.

The announcement came as the group continued its negotiations to become part of the team building the Royal Navy’s new supercarriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.

Last, year Ship Support Services, a company Pyeroy formed with Cape Industrial Services, was named as the preferred bidder by BVT Surface Fleet to undertake the access and specialist coatings work on the £3bn carriers’ contract.

The contract is likely to last nine years and will create or maintain hundreds of jobs. A decision is expected soon.

The Gateshead group’s Marine Division has enjoyed a sustained period of success, having completed several contracts to provide painting, scaffold access and insulation services on Royal Navy vessels, including its three current aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal, HMS Illustrious and HMS Invincible.

A £2m contract, secured last June to repaint two Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, RFA Fort Rosalie and RFA Fort George, was completed in less than six months. In December last year, the group announced it had won a £1m contract for the supply and erection of scaffolding during the refit of one of the Royal Navy’s largest nuclear submarines, HMS Vigilant.

The firm also has a number of other high-profile contracts leading to sales of more than £54m last year.

Managing director Hugh Pelham said: “The past year has seen us secure several high-profile contracts, cementing our reputation as a leading provider of specialist industrial services.

“We have a highly-trained and dedicated workforce which, together with a healthy order book and a strategy of adding value, sees us well placed to ride out the toughest recession in decades and emerge ready to take advantage of recovery.”

The company was responsible for refurbishing the Forth Rail Bridge, near Edinburgh, and also won a £6m contract to refurbish Blackfriars Bridge and a £6.5m contract to refurbish Tower Bridge and Southwark Bridge for the City of London.

The group has also secured a £2.5m access and insulation contract for Marchwood Power station, in Southampton, and a £1.3m contract to refurbish an offshore platform on behalf of E.ON, one of the UK’s largest utilities companies.

Pyeroy, which is hoping to expand into work centred around the power generation, nuclear and renewable energy industries, employs 1,000 people working on industrial, infrastructure, construction and marine projects.