Privately-owned Clugston Group has posted a £2.2m pre-tax profit on a much-reduced turnover of £143.4m for the financial year 2015/16.

Above: Chief executive Stephen Martin

The numbers were down substantially from 2015’s record year, when profits reached £5.1m on turnover of £253m. However, chief executive Stephen Martin described them as “a strong set of results” given market conditions.

The Construction division turned over £126.6m and made a profit of £2.0m. Projects included the Leeds Recycling & Energy Recovery Facility, projects with Siemens at Green Port Hull as part of the offshore wind manufacturing centre, two schemes for The University of Sunderland, a new exhibition Hall at the Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate and two new care homes.

Clugston’s logistics division grew turnover by 5% to £16.1m and turned 2015’s loss into a £400,000 profit.

Chief executive Stephen Martin said: “Whilst we continue to face challenging conditions, Clugston Group has achieved another strong set of results with solid profitability, substantial cash balances of £19.7m and no bank borrowings. We appreciate that the economic outlook is now more uncertain following the Brexit decision. However, we already have a substantial forward order book in place for the next two years and remain confident that we can continue to deliver acceptable levels of profitability. Furthermore, Clugston continues to make good progress in securing increased volumes of work in the water and care home sectors and I am pleased to announce that we will shortly commence work on our 12^th energy from waste facility.”