Marking half a century in business this year, the independently-owned family property developer and contractor reported a 5% increase in turnover to £89.3m (2022: £84.9m).

Turnover was boosted by a new property development project coming on stream and an increase in the number of external contracts delivered by the Group’s contracting arm, Muir Construction.

While the group maintains a very stable financial footing, like many companies within the sector, it is also feeling the effect of wider industry challenges impacting other areas of the business, including cost of living, planning delays, higher interest rates and higher inflation-driven costs.

Muir Timber Systems showed an improved financial performance with an increase in contracts won at competitive tender. Turnover for this arm of the Muir Group increased by 18% to £9.1m (2022: £7.6m).

Muir Construction saw steady turnover of £51.0m (2022: £53.7m) with pre-tax profit recorded at £916,000 (2022: £1.4m).

Similar to the rest of the homebuilding industry, Muir Homes, the company’s housebuilding arm, reported a reduction in turnover for 2023 to £25.1m (2022: £34.8m). Private housing sales declined with 98 houses sold within the financial year compared to 145 in the previous year. Despite this, average value per house increased by 6% to £256,000.

Lower turnover for Muir Homes is a direct result of planning delays impacting the opening of new sites and delivery of much needed housing. Inflationary increases in material and labour costs, coupled with significant mortgage interest rates, have made this part of the business challenging.

John W Muir, chairman at Muir Group, said: “We are pleased to mark 50 years in business with a strong set of financial results overall. Despite the challenges across the wider construction industry and the weakening of the housing sector, we are pleased with our strong balance sheet and profit return.

“As we celebrate this milestone year, we have renewed our focus on delivering a pipeline of high quality projects on time and on budget. We are a strong, independent family organisation with a diverse range of activities. This helps Muir Group to be robust regardless of the economic cycle and challenges. The strength of our company is built on our long-term perspective, a wide range of construction activities and our dedicated hardworking team.

“We are continuing to operate in a significantly challenging environment compared to previous years. In addition to planning delays and inflationary cost increases for material and labour, the rising cost of living and high mortgage interest rates remain challenging for our business and the industry across the board. With a profitable return and a strong net asset position, Muir Group is well positioned to deliver for our customers, partners and stakeholders for years to come.”