Kier reports a ‘robust’ performance from its construction division, bagging more than £350m of new business since mid-November 2015.

In a trading update the company said that the underlying trading performance had “remained in line with management’s expectations”.

The combined Construction and Services order book at 31st December 2015 was approximately £9bn, unchanged over the course of the year, with the potential for renewals and extensions to add another £3bn.

Most recent project wins include a £27.5m design & build office project, called Cornerstone, at Sussex Manor Business Park in Crawley. Kier’s client is Bridgecore and the building has been pre-let to Elektra, which makes radiotherapy equipment for treating cancer. The new building will tie into Elektra’s existing UK headquarters.

Kier has also been contracted to build a £14m key worker accommodation development at the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby. The new building will have 124 apartments for junior doctors and 96 en suite bedrooms with shared communal spaces for student nurses.

On the house-building front, Kier’s Residential division is set to generate revenues more than 30% up on last year, with approximately 2,200 completions expected for the year to 30th June 2016. Of these, roughly 850 are from Kier’s own land bank for private sale and 1,350 are social housing contracts.

Kier is preferred bidder for a £40m mixed tenure housing scheme for Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust (300 units) and a £9.5m design and build contract for 71 new homes for Leeds City Council.