A series of price rises has seen the cost of structural steel sections jump by 40% over the last two years.

Mark Smith, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Consequently, this presents a challenge to the wider structural steel market to remain competitive with alternative forms of construction.”

He added that Billington continued to work on ways to mitigate raw material price escalation and long term volatility.

Smith said: “However, more recently, steel prices appear to have stabilised and the group hopes this stability will continue.”

Despite market pressures on both selling prices and input costs, margins were maintained with a 16% rise in revenue to a record £73m delivering pre-tax profits up 16% to £4.4m.

Trading in recent years with Carillion was restricted to its hoard-it operation, with the business taking a £106,000 hit on Carillion’s liquidation.

Billington’s development of the Shafton facility continued with the new and upgraded machinery becoming fully operational in the latter part of the year.

This has already enabled Billington to bring work in-house and offer alternative and enhanced solutions for its clients.

Smith said: “We are continuing to see the success of the expansion strategy at the Shafton facility, now two years in to the five year adaptation programme initiated in 2015.

“This has allowed the group to increase its capacity and expand its processing and fabrication production to over 30,000 tonnes of steel this year.

“UK structural steel demand is forecast to remain stable throughout 2018 and 2019 and the board will continue to closely monitor further developments in the industry in the year ahead.

“The expansion strategy at the Shafton facility is continuing and Billington is well positioned to adapt to changes in the wider industry, which combined with our dedication to client relationships, should help us in achieving another solid performance in the current financial year.”