London-based contractor Ardmore saw its turnover fall by £112.8m in 2018, as it warned that the UK construction industry has encountered "real challenges" in the past 12 months.
Turnover for the year to 30 September 2018 was £257.9m according to Ardmore Group’s annual accounts, down from £370.7m the year before.
Despite the drop, it said was "entirely expected", the company, which specialists in residential and commercial projects, still managed to increase pre-tax profit to £25.1m, up from £15m the year before.
Director Patrick Byrne said in a statement preceding the company’s results: "Together with weak residential property sales, developers have perhaps been more hesitant in starting new projects as planned. Operating in this difficult environment, it is a credit to the site teams that the business has continued to drive production and handed over some impressive projects."
He added: "Although progress has been made with the UK government and Europe, there is clear dissatisfaction with the details of the deal negotiated. Although we cannot directly attribute this situation to the delays in awards and starts, it is difficult to overlook this as a main contributor."
The company added that it has secured 100% of its 2019 turnover, which should be "respectable" £250m.
In September last year, Ardmore was appointed to deliver the Design District (pictured), a cluster of 16 architecturally inspired commercial buildings devised by a collection of eight separate design practices, in Greenwich near the 02.
