Galliford Try’s chief operating officer Ken Gillespie has announced he is stepping down in July and will retire from group in February 2017.

Bill Hocking, who joined from Skanska in September 2015, will become chief executive of Construction & Investments from 1st August 2016.

His remaining responsibilities for the housing arm will be transferred over the coming 12 months.

Gillespie’s announcement comes as the housing and construction group unveiled record half-year profits up 24 per cent at £53 million on revenues up 12 per cent to £1,264.9m.

Galliford Try’s housing business Linden Homes delivered an operating profit of £61.5m as margins rose from 15 per cent to 17 per cent. But investment in land saw net debt rise from £36m last year to £96m.

Galliford Try said it now planned to open a further Linden Homes business in Yorkshire and a Galliford Try Partnerships business in Bristol to take advantage of rising demand.

Construction division profits edged up from £5.9m to £8.5m as the firm worked through legacy contracts, edging margins up from 1 per cent to 1.2 per cent.

Peter Truscott, chief executive, said: “The construction market continues to improve, although at a slower rate than anticipated.

“We have nevertheless further improved our order book to £3.7 billion, with good visibility on projected revenue for this and the next financial year. Build cost increases have moderated and availability of skilled labour has improved across all regions.

“Linden Homes has made strong progress on margins as well as increased outlet numbers and unit sales per outlet.

“Our Partnerships business continues to see good demand for contracting in the affordable housing market, as registered provider clients assimilate the recent changes to their income profile; and importantly the mixed tenure development business is growing strongly.”