Connaught upbeat as order book hits £800m

Connaught has defied the doom and gloom surrounding construction to report an order intake of £800m for the year to date - more than its total order intake for the whole of 2007.

The strong start to the second half of its financial year was down to continued demand from the social housing sector.

"In the current economic climate, efficiency is becoming the key driver for both local authorities and housing associations. Connaught is particularly well-placed as these social landlords move from traditional multi-contractor models to longer-term multi-service partnerships," an interim management statement from the company said.

Meanwhile Connaught also reported that it has won five ten-year plus integrated service contracts worth a total of £530m.

And it indicated that its "compliance services" business which offers blue-collar servicing and white-collar advice in the health and safety compliance market was also performing well.

Connaught chairman Mark Tincknell said: "Connaught has continued to perform extremely well in both its core markets and our forward earnings visibility has been further enhanced by a record year to date order intake. I am confident in the group's future prospects and see great ongoing potential in the Connaught business model."