BAM Construct UK, one of the UK subsidiaries of Dutch construction giant Royal BAM Group, has reported a 40 per cent fall in profits last year despite a 5.6 per cent growth in turnover.

The company reported turnover for 2014 of £886 million (2013: £839m), with a profit before tax of £6.6m (2013: £10.9m) at a margin of 0.8 per cent.

However, chief executive Graham Cash said that, with the recession now over, the business was in good shape, with a £1.79bn forward order book. As well as construction, BAM engages in property development, design, services engineering, and facilities management services.

Mr Cash said the company is set to grow its facilities management business and offer life cycle options to customers.

He said: “BAM Construct UK steered a prudent course throughout the recession, aimed at keeping the shape of our business stable, and being able to offer reliability, quality and certainty to our clients. A 0.8 per cent profit margin reflected the final phase of recession. In the new conditions, we aim to improve this by using BIM, lean technology and efficiency. Most construction divisions have nearly full order books for 2015. The commercial property market revived in 2014. BAM Properties achieved considerable success letting and selling the portfolio of offices that it has developed in recent years.”

Mr Cash said BAM Construct’s facilities management business now has a total FM capability of hard, soft and mobile services and “has broadened its range of customers. As well as being an efficient business and profit earner in its’ own right, the expertise of the facilities management team adds value to our design, property development and construction teams”.

He added: “The industry is at last emerging from recession. 2014 was an eventful year for construction with many major contractors changing the shape of their businesses by retreating from parts of the market, closing offices, or divesting particular business streams and changing their senior personnel. Now we are placed to grow sustainably by growing our FM business and, in particular, by combining all our skills and services to offer whole life cycle options to customers.”

The value of the company’s cash and in-kind community support during 2014 was £616,118.

Graham Cash said: “We have just concluded a two-year charity partnership with Macmillan whereby our staff raised the equivalent of 7,774 nursing hours support for people with cancer. Staff chose the Alzheimer’s Society as our charity for 2015/16. I hope we can learn much from the Society about how better to take account of the needs of people with dementia when designing and constructing buildings.”