Mace Group more than doubled pre-tax profit to a record £38m last year from £17m in 2021 as revenue rose 12% to £1.93bn.

The improved performance marked Mace’s 31^st consecutive year of profitability since being founded.

Chief executive Mark Reynolds predicted this year revenue would top £2bn putting Mace on track to reach 3bn by 2026.

Despite project timescales being impacted by Covid-19, the contracting arm drove growth in revenue and profits contributing £1.5bn or 76% of group revenue.

Operating margin at the division also improved rising to 3.8% from 2.8%.

Mace’s Consult business achieved record growth, reaching £366m  –  an 7.1% increase on 2020 – and raising headcount to 3,866 from 2,600 at the end of 2020.

Total group headcount rose to top 6,000 staff at the year-end from 5,400 previously.

Reynolds said revenue for the group was budgeted to be £2.15bn for 2022, although he warned this could be missed due to project delays in the face of economic headwinds.

He said: “The continued uncertainty caused by the Russian invasion in Ukraine, energy price increases and more recently currency fluctuations is proving challenging for everyone – however, through industry collaboration and championing better ways of working we are confident that 2022 will be another record year.”