The Poole-headquartered steelwork specialist saw operating margins rise from 7.7% to 10.4% despite steel price rises, and a fall-off in demand from the rail and commercial sectors.

Bourne has already secured a forward workload for 2018 and beyond of over £62m and raised staff numbers to around 200.

Chief executive Stephen Govier said: “Trading conditions for the wholly owned subsidiary trading company Bourne Construction Engineering were favourable throughout the year, with all business units delivering solid operational performances.

“BCEL began the year with a strong forward order book, which enabled it to be more selective as to the nature and timing of new business and consequently to avoid lower margin, less profitable sales.

“This combination of good quality sales, improved efficiency and excellent operational delivery, resulted in a strong profit performance for the year.”