Turnover at parent company OHOB Holdings dropped to £294m in the year to March 2026 from £367m previously.

But pre-tax profit rose 15% from £21.8m to £25.1m, while operating margin strengthened to 6.5% from 5.2%.

Directors said the result was boosted by successful final account settlements.

The privately owned contractor, controlled by chairman Tom O’Brien and his family, has grown from its groundworks roots into a multi-disciplinary construction, civil engineering and development group.

It also launched Parklife Partnerships during the year to find sites, secure funding and deliver urban residential schemes through development partnerships.

Directors said activity had been held back in recent years mainly by planning delays on tall residential projects caught up in Building Safety Act requirements.

But O’Brien said the logjam was now starting to clear.

He said: “The Building Safety Act planning delays are at last beginning to be resolved, so we look forward to increasing our turnover to previous levels during the next two years.

“The expected increased demand for construction services is likely to lead to all-round increased pricing and increased demand for well-established and well-financed businesses with the ability and capacity of the OHOB Group.

“We continue to work for Tier 1 and other long-standing customers, and we have a significant pipeline of good potential opportunities.”

The core O’Halloran & O’Brien business remains a major groundworks and concrete frame contractor, backed by building contracting, plant hire, utilities and residential development operations.

Once predominantly focused on London and the South East, the group has widened its reach into the Shires, Midlands, North and South West.

Construction contracting generated £271m of revenue during the year, with plant hire contributing £4.6m and residential property sales nearly £18m.

The group remained strongly cash-backed with £91m in the bank at year-end and no bank borrowings.

Average staff numbers rose to 200 from 184.