Construction and property development company Will-mott Dixon has recorded its tenth straight year of growth.

The group, which has a local office in Coleshill, came in with pretax profits of £10.5 million, slightly up on 2004's £10.1 million.

Turnover hit £412.7 million, up from £410 million.

The forward order book stands at £400 million and Willmott said efficiency improvements had seen sales per capita reach £430,000. Rick Willmott, chief executive, said: "2005 was even more successful than we had hoped.

"Following the de-merger of our support services company Inspace and the loss of a significant contribution to group turnover and profit, we anticipated an initial reduction in profit and turnover in the year, so to have surpassed last year's performance and achieve a tenth successive year of profit growth is an exceptional achievement."

Willmott Dixon Construction managing director for the Midlands, Peter Owen, who is based at Coleshill, said:: "Our region had an excellent year and made a very positive contribution to group results, with a profit of £1.3 million on a £64.1 million turnover."

The business employs 70 people across the Midlands.

Mr Owen added: "We have continued to grow and win new work. This includes the project to build a 100-bedroom Express by Holiday Inn hotel in Redditch and a £20 million design and build contract from Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council for the New Entertainment Venue in Shrewsbury.

"We also completed a number of Morrisons' projects in the region, the biggest of which was doubling the size of Morrisons in Coventry by building a new extension."

He said the firm continued to have a good flow of work with major local authorities in the Midlands, such as Leicestershire County Council, where it is responsible for four schools worth nearly £40 million.

Others include two new schools for Sandwell Council worth £11 million and a £3.4 million sports hall and all-weather external pitch at Woodlands School for Coventry City Council.

Mr Owen said there was a growing trend for greener buildings, particularly in the education sector.

"Customers are looking for innovative solutions to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions from their buildings and we are now actively focused on doing this, with some very impressive results and more to come."

Mr Owen said they were viewing the future with confidence, and aiming to increase turnover to £78 million.