Turnover also hit the skids, falling 8% to £687m, mainly due to the previous year being inflated by the Olympic Stadium contract.

As as a result the firm’s average operating construction margin fell from 2.6% to 1.8%.

In a statement with the accounts, the firm said: “A number of opportunities in London and the South East will lead to an increase in turnover in 2013 and this improvement is expected to continue beyond 2013 with our order book rising”

McAlpine has picked up a string on major London jobs like the new headquarters for Bloomberg and the new US Embassy.

Outside the south east it also picked up the £180m City of Glasgow College job and its working on a $283m Burmuda hospital PPP.

Group performance, as part of holding company Newarthill, was bolstered by a £27m operating profit from PPP Concessions, like Autolink on the M6 and helped keep pre-tax profits steady at £20.5m..

McAlpine said it paid suppliers with 31 days of receipt of invoice or certification during the year.

Despite the fall in turnover staff numbers remained steady at 1,963. The highest paid director pocketed £823,953 in salary and benefits.