NG Bailey has reported a 16% increase in turnover to £556 million and an increase in underlying operating profit to £19.4m (from £13.7m) for the 12 months to 01 March 2019.

The company, the UK's largest independent engineering and services group, attributes its successful financial performance to its acquisition of Freedom, which provides technical engineering and maintenance services, in March 2018. The move has allowed it to expand its engineering and maintenance services across major infrastructure portfolios. The existing NG Bailey business has also increased its profitability, further strengthening its position.

NG Bailey also has a strong pipeline of work, with its future order book growing to £1.4bn from £1bn in 2017/18.

During the past year, the company has worked on significant contracts including North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust Hospital; the Northern Line Extension Project; Grosvenor House, a landmark development in the heart of Sheffield city centre; and the redevelopment of London Bridge Station.

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Other Services contracts include securing a place on Yorkshire Water's high voltage electrical design and maintenance framework.

From an Engineering perspective, NG Bailey will continue working on contracts for Wood Wharf, the new mixed-use extension to Canary Wharf, and the Manchester Engineering Campus Development.

David Hurcomb, chief executive of NG Bailey, said: "We have continued to deliver against our five-year strategy to achieve a balance in the business across our Engineering and Services divisions. The success of this plan is reflected in a strong operating performance that has continued to improve year-on-year.

"Our acquisition of Freedom has been key in allowing us to expand our capabilities in sectors including defence and airports, as well as establishing a new presence in the electricity distribution network market. We have also gained a wealth of new knowledge and experience from the talented members of Freedom who have now joined the NG Bailey Group.

"Underpinning our operating performance is our commitment to health and safety and wellbeing. This year we reached five million RIDDOR free hours across the Group and our Group Accident Frequency Rate (AFR) is one of the lowest in the industry.

"As a responsible business, we are also committed to investing in the wellbeing and mental health of our people, providing mental health training to more than 400 managers as well as continuing to promote the fairness, inclusion and respect agenda for our industry.

"We also strive to 'give something back' and this year we are working in partnership with British Heart Foundation as our adopted charity of the year; we aim to raise £75,000 by September 2020.

"All businesses in the construction sector are operating in a challenging environment, but we believe our solid financial position, and our continued investment in our people, puts us in a good position to weather any future economic uncertainty."

(MH)