An analysis of Scotland’s privately owned construction and property companies has revealed 18% growth over the past 12 months.

The second annual Scotland Ltd report from accountancy firm Grant Thornton assesses the commercial performance of Scotland’s top limited businesses. This year it shows that property and construction businesses account for 17 of the country’s top 100 private firms, an increase from 11 in 2014.

The Miller Group (UK) had the biggest turnover but Robertson Group had the strongest Ebitda profits growth, which will be no surprise to readers of The Construction Index. Last September we revealed that Robertson was Britain’s most profitable building company, with a margin of 13.3%.

EG Thomson (Holdings) was Scotland’s top performing construction and property business for employment growth.

Scottish Property Federation director David Melhuish said: “The continued recovery from the depths of the financial crisis was very much the watchword for the property industry in Scotland last year. We saw a number of firms move ahead with projects and investments across the country in 2015 which provided a feeling of greater stability for the industry and helped added to the promising signs that the property and construction industry would continue its recovery and improve on its £6 billion plus contribution to the Scottish economy.”

Lorraine Macphail, Grant Thornton’s head of property & construction for Scotland, said: “It is heartening for the sector to see such a rise in employee numbers and profits. Major public sector infrastructure projects and an increase in house building and commercial schemes has provided a much needed boost for one of Scotland’s most important sectors. Action to unlock available land, reducing burdensome taxes and continued investment in public infrastructure projects will be the key to ensuring the sector maintains momentum.”