Design and build contractor McAleer & Rushe is on track to break through the £500m turnover barrier this year after posting strong 2024 results driven by a string of major project wins.

The design and build contractor grew turnover by 13% last year to £491m, with a forecast to hit £550m this year as momentum builds across its residential, student, and later living markets.

Pre-tax profit jumped 46% to £16m, while cash at bank rose to £71m, up from £53m in 2023, underlining the firm’s controlled growth strategy.

Operating margin improved to 2.7% from around 2% in 2023.

Major wins last year included a £225m residential scheme in Bermondsey, a £110m student job at Crutched Friars in London, a £40m hotel next to Dublin’s Croke Park, and an £80m later living project in Royal Tunbridge Wells.

Group chief executive Eamonn Laverty said: “We have seen a notable uplift in the build-to-rent and private sale markets, while 2024 has also marked growth in the later living sector, a strategic area of opportunity for the business going forward.”

The firm is also investing in its London base, refurbishing its Drury Lane office into an energy-efficient grade A building as part of its pledge to become a Net Zero business by 2045.