Andries de Jong, chairman of building and civil engineering group Fitzpatrick, has said construction inflation will force the company to become “very selective” about future work.

De Jong made the comment as the group posted a 24% jump in pre-tax profit from £9.3m to £11.6m for the year ended 31 December 2007. Turnover was flat, edging up from £364m in 2006 to £365m last year.

De Jong said: “Construction inflation, together with the increasing cost of producing prequalification documents, will lead to the group being very selective.”

The salary of the highest paid director grew by 67% from £289,000 in 2006 to £484,000 last year. Average pay across the firm’s 934 staff was £50,404.