The structural steel business has been working at, or near, capacity for most of the year, with overall volumes at a similar level to 2015.

This helped to lift group pre-tax profit nearly a quarter to £3.8m on revenue up 12% to £63m.

The improvement in demand and working efficiency at the group helped to lift margin to 6%, against 5.4% in 2015, but still below its previous peak.

Mark Smith, Chief Executive Officer, said the rise in steel prices late last year had a small impact on business operations but Billington was looking forward to a period of steel price stability in 2017.

Forecasts indicate that the consumption of structural steelwork within the UK increased by 4% last year to 902,000 tonnes. Projections are that consumption will remain at or around this level for the next two years

Smith said Billington was now moving onto an expansion footing.

“The exchange rate environment, since the Brexit vote, has provided the group with the opportunity to recommence the assessment of expanding its operations into Europe, which is something that Billington will continue to review in the coming year.

“The gradual phasing in of the Shafton facility shall further increase the capacity available and present the group further business opportunities in which to expand the range of services it is able to offer its customers.”

Shafton Steel Services provide steel profiling and processing services with new capacity expected to come on line in the summer.

He added that Billington intended to further increase its 360 strong workforce with the planned employment of additional labour at the Shafton site and the expansion of the technical and professional teams at the Bristol office.