The firm is benefiting from investment in long-term development joint ventures. This helped B&K to deliver a group operating margin of 6.2%, up from 5.6% in 2016.

Pre-tax profit rose 5% to a record £64m over the year to 31 August on stable revenue of £928m.

Chairman John Kirkland said the group continued to maintain a healthy cash balance with year-end net cash at £316m (2016: £268m).

“The upturn we saw in the construction market last year was maintained in this financial year and once again this year the coming to fruition of long-standing development joint ventures made a key contribution to our strong performance.

“We continue to seek out equity funding opportunities and our strong cash position enables us to act quickly,” he added.

Kirkland said that the group was now in a strong position to take advantage of the opportunities and withstand any challenges in the years ahead.

Over the year the firm’s headcount remained steady 1,319 staff, including around 269 operatives.

The highest paid director saw his total package jump nearly a third to £8,579,000.