Profits up by 54% at building consultancy firm

Lancashire based construction and engineering consultancy Driver Group saw profits increase by 54% last year.

The Haslingden based firm announced its preliminary results this morning.

Revenues increased by four per cent to £62.6m with continued focus on core claims and disputes.

Gross profit increased to £16.3m from £14.8m resulting in a gross margin increased of 26%.

Underlying profit before taxation increased by 54% to £3.8m from £2.5m. Profits for the year was £2.2m compared with £300,000 last year.

Gordon Wilkinson, chief executive, said: “The transformative turnaround in Driver Group’s fortunes reflects a job carefully judged and executed by its management team and staff.

“The result of this has been to return significant value to our shareholders and to deliver expert, sustainable and truly world-class professional service to our clients.”

The group’s strategy remains to focus on those areas of expertise where it has a particularly strong position, in claims and dispute resolution and in expert witness work.

Following the appointment of David Kilgour as group chief financial officer 12 months ago the board has remained unchanged for the remainder of the year.

The start of the current financial year has shown a continuation of the positive trading and improvements.

The firm will continue to monitor costs and margins to ensure that the company deals appropriately with the fluctuations in activity.

Non-executive chairman Steven Norris said: “The board is confident that we can continue to build on the exceptional progress we have made so far.

“There is no question that in every significant respect the company is in a far better position than it has been for several years.”