Two major players in the East Anglian construction industry are standing on firm foundations for 2017 as their parent group reported a jump of 32% in its annual profits.
Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure and housing partnership developer Lovell, which both have offices in the region, had a hand in helping Morgan Sindall Group plc achieve pre-tax profits of £45.3m in 2016 – up £11m from the year before.
The group reported revenues of £2.56bn, up 7% from 2015, and its order book grew by 29% to £3.6bn.
Its construction and infrastructure sector saw a 134% increase in operating profit – from £3.4m in 2015 to £8.9m in 2016 – while the partnership housing division also saw its operating profit increase by 40% to £13.4m.
Morgan Sindall, which has offices in Norwich and Ipswich, has some major contracts lined up in the education sector for 2017.
It has been appointed by Anglia Ruskin University to build a £25m science centre at its Cambridge campus for teaching, postgraduate and staff amenities within the faculty of science and technology.
Meanwhile in Norfolk it is leading the construction of an £11m special educational needs (SEN) school for the county council, with capacity for 110 primary age pupils.
Morgan Sindall managing director for construction in East Anglia, Saul Humphrey, said: 'The business in East Anglia is strong. There may be uncertainty in some quarters but we are not feeling that – most people are pretty confident. In the sectors we are most active in, we are very well placed for the future.'
After delivering more than 2,000 homes in 2016, developer Lovell – which has a regional office in Norwich – will be working on several key projects in Norfolk and Suffolk in 2017.
These include a £7.9m residential and commercial scheme in Long Stratton for South Norfolk Council's development company, Big Sky Developments; a 50 home development for Havebury Housing Partnership in Mendlesham, near Stowmarket; and a £30m regeneration programme at the Hillington Square Estate in King's Lynn.
Lovell managing director Jonathan Goring said: 'During the year, we saw the housing market continue to improve and we have maintained investment in new mixed tenure regeneration projects leaving us in a strong position to grow the business in the future.'
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