But the rapid growth came at a cost with the group running up a loss of £2.3m, after a large-scale investment of £3m in new offices and digital construction systems.

This ended 37 years of consecutive profit for the firm, which started out as an industrial shed builder.

To meet swelling order books, the group’s headcount was also raised from 121 to 216 staff.

GMI said it remained debt free and had also used the revenues from a bouyant year to increase its cash reserves by nearly £11.5m to £34m.

Presently the group operates in four regions across the North of England and Midlands and has improved average contract value to £17m.

Secured turnover for the present financial year already stands at in excess of £325m with over 70% of the company’s forecast turnover currently being undertaken for repeat clients.

Lee Powell, who was appointed CEO mid-way through the financial year 2021-22, said: “GMI Construction has grown and developed in the immediate post-pandemic period as we implemented a growth strategy to win and deliver new contracts.

“We have maintained the support of a strong cohort of existing clients and won the confidence of numerous firms and developers in areas where we have increased our presence through the establishment of new offices and recruitment of new dedicated staff.”

Powell said: “We remain debt free and have maintained our KPI of 10%, over £30m, cash in hand.

“The growth we have achieved and the massive forward investments we have made, give the board confidence that we remain on track to meet our ten-year vision of reaching a turnover of £800m.”