He unveiled plans to step down as the firm posted record pretax profits, up 28% to £95m.

The construction and house building group, which raised turnover by a fifth to £1.77bn in the year to June, is now on the hunt for a successor.

Linden homes was the main driver of profit over the year, with the partnerships business also providing strong turnover growth.

Construction struggled as margins fell from 1.6% to 1% and operating profits slumped 40% to £8m.

Much of the fall came from the building division where profit halved to £3m and margins were squeezed to 0.7% by cost rises.

Fitzgerald said: “We had anticipated that margins would be lower in 2014, owing to challenging conditions in the supply chain, notably in Building, leading to higher costs than we expected at the time we bid for some contracts.

“The effect was mitigated by profits of £3.1 million on disposal of three investments, held and managed within the Building division.

He added that Galliford Try was focussed on the smooth integration of Miller Construction, bought in February, which was proceeding “ahead of expectations”.

The construction division’s order book has now doubled in size to £3bn following the deal.