Skanska UK has reported a 45% rise in turnover in the first quarter of 2007.

Turnover at the UK arm of the Swedish contractor rose to £283.6m in the first quarter, up from £195.4m in the corresponding period last year. Operating income rose 34.5% to £7.4m across the same period.

Announcing the results, David Fison, Skanska UK’s chief executive, said he wanted the company, which acquired McNicholas in December, to emulate what he described as the civil engineering contractor’s “entrepreneurial” ethos.

He said: “We need to become faster on our feet. This is something we are communicating across the company.”

Fison said that, although the company was not seeking volume growth, it would consider acquisitions if they added “real value”.

The firm, which is currently working on Barts and New London Hospitals and the first Building Schools for the Future project in Bristol, said that it had strong workloads in building and civils, with the London commercial sector being particularly strong.

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