A Kent firm has defied the construction downturn to build up record sales.

The GSE Group, which sponsors the British Superbike championship-winning GSE Racing team, hiked turnover by 6.4 per cent to £37million for the year ending December 2008.

GSE Group was formed in 2000 and now employs 260 people in Ashford and across the county.

Its success was underpinned by a spread of enterprises, with operating divisions in design and build, civil engineering, land remediation, haulage and plant hire, and has experienced growth almost every year with turnover now four times that of its launch year.

The results were largely driven by impressive performances from GSE Building & Civil Engineering which, while turnover was stable at £14million, saw pre-tax profits contribute substantially to group results, and GSE Design and Build where turnover was up 70 per cent to £22million. The firm said this led to a significant rise in profits.

The group, which also owns Hythe Imperial Hotel, said its plant hire division now operated a modern fleet representing capital spending of more than £8million.

The Design and Build division’s performance was boosted by the formation of three new teams - Minor Works for small commercial contracts and residential properties, Heating & Ventilation, and Electrical.

The group’s overall figures were underpinned by steady performances from GSE Haulage and Kent Land Reclamation and GSE Plant where profits were down slightly following a £2million investment in equipment.

"These record breaking financial results reflect the hard work put in across all our divisions," said group chairman Darrell Healey. "It was important to record a strong performance in 2008 to put us in a position to weather what we all know to have been a tougher year for the construction industry in 2009.

"A lot of our success can be attributed to the fact that, across our divisions, we have expertise in all areas of construction and our different companies can often support each other on their various projects. It’s a very sustainable business model."

GSE Racing celebrated a one-two triumph in the 2009 British Superbike season with title holder Leon Camier winning the championship and James Ellison taking runners-up spot, both under the Airwaves Yamaha banner.