But group profitability from stronger trading was set back by a £1.9m bad debt from the collapse of modular housing specialist ilke Homes, which O’Keefe had been working for.

Chief executive Michael Byrne said the group delivered a performance in a very challenging economic environment recording an operating profit of £8m, before exceptional costs, up from £6.2m in the prior year.

After allowing for the like Homes hit, Byrne Group reported pre-tax profit of £6.8m, slightly ahead of 2022.

In the first year of trading within Byrne Group, groundworks and demolition specialist O’Keefe turnover exceeded budgets to £45m and delivered a pre-eceptional oprating profit of £2.9m.

Byrne said: “The support of the Byrne Group has been instrumental in the business experiencing an upturn in the number of new inquiries and requests to tender projects.”

He added: “We expect to deliver out targeted turnover this year and will steadily grow the business with an eye on profitability and negotiating works to help deliver this.”

Concrete frame specialist Byrne Bros revenue dropped 11% to £65m with operating profit nearly halved at £2.5m.

The strength of the fit-out market saw the building arm Ellmer deliver the strongest revenue at £82m, contributing £2.4m to overall operating profit.

Byrne added that Ellmer Construction’s secured order book for the next financial year was healthy and includes the completion of residential apartments at the Peninsula, the Marylebone Lane Hotel and finishing up the major Google fit-out contract.

Overall headcount over the year jumped by around 120 to 340 staff.