Two years after it merged engineering consultant Mouchel Parkman has reported a 119% increase in pre-tax profit to £22.1m.

The board has recommended a dividend of 2.2p a share, an increase of 22%, and turnover rose 17% to £311m in the year to 31 July.

Chief executive Richard Cuthbert said: “Two years ago if we had been told we’d get these results, we’d have taken that.”

He said that the company had about £19m of cash reserves that would be used as working capital, getting into PFI and making acquisitions.

So far the company has not entered the PFI market but it has formed a joint venture with Babcock to bid for the government’s Building Schools for the Future programme.

Mouchel Parkman’s core sectors are highways, property, water and rail.