Latest accounts show the 128-year-old firm weathered the challenges of 2020 generating a stable pre-tax profit of £4.3m  despite revenue falling 14% to £136m.

After restructuring, Beard ended the year holding a strong cash balance with zero debt on its books.

Fraser Johns, financial director at Beard, said: “Like a lot of construction businesses, our turnover was negatively impacted by Covid.

“We worked hard to reduce costs and increase efficiency to avoid the need for redundancies.

“However we faced some difficult decisions, as everyone did, and had to implement a restructuring programme to make us fit for the future based on projected turnover.

“Regrettably this meant making a small number (12%) of redundancies, of which nearly two thirds was voluntary.”

Recent big work wins include University of Oxford’s Rhodes House development worth £24m and two developments for Signature Senior Living across the South East worth £25m.

Sustainability has long been a focus for Beard and it recently took this a step further by investing in eco-building provider, Green Unit, which produces stand-alone round-edged modular units.

Johns added: “It’s testament to the hard work and dedication shown across the business that we have come through 2020 together and can now look ahead to the rest of 2021, beyond the pandemic, with cautious optimism and confidence.”