A series of energy from waste projects helped to lift turnover by 30% to £109m and deliver a threefold increase in pre-tax profit from £2.0m to £6.1m.

Despite the current economic climate Clugston has already secured a forward order book of £220m.

Stephen Martin, Clugston Group chief executive said: “2012 was a momentous year in the company’s history, as we not only celebrated our 75th anniversary, but achieved record profits, strong cash balances and an order book that allows us to look forward with increasing optimism.”

Turnover at the construction division rose a third to £97.5m as the firm worked on energy from waste projects in Lincolnshire, Staffordshire, Oxfordshire and Shropshire, as well as a biomass plant in Kent.

All the projects have been secured from its strategic joint venture with French process engineering specialist CNIM.

The joint venture was also recently awarded a contract to build the new Leeds energy recovery facility for Veolia Environmental Services.

Clugston’s logistics business also lifted turnover by 11% to £11m helped by a diversification into new markets, particularly the fuels sector.

This combined with the continued growth of the curtain sider and the intermodal po

The distribution company plans to capitalise on its Scunthorpe base, close to the Humber refineries, by focusing on further growing its fuels customer base.

The group’s property division also made significant progress on several joint venture schemes, including handing over a 422,000 sq ft storage depot at Turbine Business Park in Sunderland for Vantec Europe.