Boost for construction group McAvoy as its pre-tax profits double

building specialist McAvoy Group’s pre-tax profits have doubled to reach £2.29m, according to its latest results.

The Dungannon-based firm also reported it has enjoyed a 28% increase in turnover from £44.8m to £57.5m in the year to October 31, 2016.

The company primarily deals with constructing permanent buildings in off-site projects, though it also manufactures, sells and hires out portable buildings.

It has been in business for 45 years, operating in the education, health, commercial, infrastructure and hospitality sectors.

Its report said Brexit was one external factor affecting its operating markets, but that demand for its products and services conport tinued to grow.

The company is led by chairperson Orla Corr and managing director Eugene Lynch.

Pre-tax profits were up from £1.11m a year earlier.

Employee numbers also grew by nearly 20%, going from 146 people to 174.

In a strategic report, the directors said they were committed to increasing shareholder value by growing market share in the UK and Ireland.

To increase market share, the business focused on securing new contracts, developing its capabilities and boosting its expertise.

The report stressed that the directors were hugely pleased with the 28% growth in sales, which they said was “due directly to the market-focus strategies adopted”.

“It is further satisfying to reOFF-SITE that the order levels for 2017 are continuing at an encourage rate,” it added.

The doubling of pre-tax profits flowed directly from the growth in turnover, the company explained.

This month McAvoy Group apprentice Stuart Marshall was named Apprentice of the Year 2017 by South Eastern Regional College.

McAvoy Group also received the SERC Business Excellence Award.

In October the company announced a four-year, £10m investment to boost its permanent modular construction division, replace its hire division stock and create 38 new jobs.

It has been working on a £20m project for Lynch Hill School in Slough — one of the UK’s biggest off-site secondary school buildings.