Despite market uncertainty, revenue jumped a fifth to £519m with pre-tax profit up by a similar rate to £12.2m.

Managing Director Richard Offord said the uplift was driven by increased industrial and distribution building, and port infrastructure.

Offord said: “Particularly in distribution building, we have witnessed a buoyant market with high demand for warehouse space from end users which has acted to encourage developer investment.

“The current activity level seen in both these markets may in part be a product of Brexit planning.”

But success in the competitive distribution sector where contractors accept lower margins work on fast construction programme dampened overall performance to give a group-wide operating of 2.3%.

At the end of last year, the order book was a third up on the previous year at £860m.

This includes big orders for the London Overground Barking Riverside Extension, RAF Lakenheath F35 facilities, Dover Western Docks Revival infrastructure and Plot 1 and 2 at Midlands Logistics Park in Corby.

VolkerFitzpatrick ended the year with a strong cash-backed balance sheet. Net assets rose to £61m, supported by net cash of £104m.

Staff numbers also topped 1,000 during the year.

To secure future talent the firm signed a partnership with Nottingham Trent University at the end of March to gain access to its talent pool for undergraduate roles, placements, student projects and collaboration with the school of Architecture, Design and Built Environment.