A Lancashire contractor which has completed projects such as the redevelopment Manchester United's Carrington training ground increased profits in 2020 despite the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Eric Wright Group's pre-tax profits totalled £9.5m, a rise from £7.6m, but its turnover fell from £223.2m to £204.6m over the same period.
In a statement, the group added that its gross profit increased from £14.8m to £17.3m, an increase which "was largely driven by the continued growth of the residential business, the elimination of two loss making construction contracts in the prior year and a resilient performance from all businesses across the group in an unprecedented year".
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The Bamber Bridge business, which can trace its roots back to 1923, also said its investment property portfolio "performed well despite the pandemic" and its efforts to work alongside and support tenants across all sectors helped ensure the maintenance of overall property values, with the portfolio ending the year at a value of £75.9m.
In 2020 the group also successfully secured places on a number of key frameworks and continued to "focus on nurturing and supporting existing client relationships, collaborating to bring experience and expertise to the broad range of clients which underpin its workstreams".
Group finance director Gill Chadwick said: "2020 was an extremely challenging year for many and we are therefore pleased to report these results.
"We continue to benefit from the core stability and the diversity of our principal activities, with a strong balance sheet supported by long term investments and careful cash flow management.
"Despite the period of disruption and uncertainty, these factors continue to provide the group with resilience and confidence as we trade out of the pandemic."
The group operates in the education, health, industrial, public sector, regeneration, offices, residential, retail, sports and leisure, water, rail, highways and renewables sectors.
Its other projects include Blackburn's Cathedral Quarter, Tower Wharf in Birkenhead and Chorley Market Walk.
Group managing director Jeremy Hartley added: "The strength of our underlying business and the commitment and determination of all our staff has enabled us to trade though the pandemic and look to the future with a cautious optimism.
"During this extremely difficult time for many businesses, we have continued to work closely with our partners and supply chain to support them in any way we could.
"This approach enabled us to successfully deliver a number of key projects on time across a range of sectors including residential, education, health, leisure, industrial, water and civil engineering.
"At the same time, we have invested in our people, ensuring their health and wellbeing remain at the forefront of our thinking whilst creating an environment which enables them to adapt to the changes in working patterns that many of us have experienced.
"We believe that in the medium to long term, many of these changes will be of benefit both to the business and our staff alike as we all adapt to the post Covid world.
"We recognise the huge effort and commitment of our staff throughout this period and we can now shift our focus to creating a secure future."
