A privately-owned housebuilder has produced another rock solid set of annual results as pre-tax profits increased 71% to £4.9 million.

Chartway Group, based in Coxheath, near Maidstone, boosted turnover by 56% to £68.5 million in the year to the end of May, its latest accounts show.

The figures stacked-up with the help of a civil engineering company it launched earlier this year and the growth of its Westerhill Homes private development brand.

The firm, which employs more than 140 people, said demand for housing had outweighed any uncertainty in the economy and allowed it to sign a raft of long-term deals.

Its most recent projects include the redevelopment of the former Ashford College site in Jemmett Road, a lakeside village at Conningbrook Country Park in Ashford and the redevelopment of two plots on Rochester’s Corporation Street.

Co-founder and managing director Ian Savage said the firm had “secured another strong order book”.

He said: “We anticipate further growth over the year ahead, building on our strong client base to secure sustained growth for the company.

“Although there is still uncertainty about the full impact of Brexit on the UK construction industry, there is a demand for housing which we have capitalised on by securing a number of long-term build contracts.”

The business, which was founded in 2009, grew in its early days with a number of contracts with housing associations and has twice been named in the London Stock Exchange 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report.

It has appeared four times in the KM Group’s MegaGrowth 50 list of the fastest-growing private companies in Kent.

This year’s list will be revealed at a breakfast presentation on November 1 and in the next print edition of Kent Business out in the Kent Messenger and Medway Messenger the day after.