Kier has kicked off the new financial year on a high with trading in line with expectations and its order book swelling by £600m to £11.6bn.

New chief executive Stuart Togwell said he was starting his tenure with 94% of this year’s revenue already locked in which he claimed was one of the strongest positions in the industry.

Togwell, who officially took the reins this month, said he was “excited” to lead the group into its next phase of growth after what he called a strong start to FY26.

The workload boost comes from a string of major wins, including Norfolk County Council’s £700m highways and infrastructure contract running for up to 14 years, seven lots on the Crown Commercial Service’s Transport Technology Framework, and a £205m reservoir improvement deal for United Utilities under AMP8.

In construction, Kier has picked up four education projects worth around £190m and £116m of new prison expansion work at HMP Lancaster Farms under the Ministry of Justice’s Small Secure Houseblocks Alliance.

Its property arm is also busy securing planning for a 452,000 sq ft logistics scheme in Andover and had started work on the pre-let Riverwell Town Square scheme in Watford with tenants including Travelodge, Tesco and Greggs.

The group has further strengthened its finances with a new £190m revolving credit facility running to 2030, underlining lender confidence in Kier’s long-term prospects.

Kier said its strong cash generation remains on track and that performance this year will again be weighted toward the second half.