Construction group Galliford Try trading in line

In an update for the period from 1 July to the end of December, the company said: "We continue to maintain good relationships with our supply chain and clients which, together with our strong balance sheet, has enabled us to manage the economic conditions effectively with no material impact on trading."

It said the order book of £3.5bn provides "good visibility" of future workload. "We continue to see a robust pipeline of new opportunities across our chosen sectors, supported by our strong track record and focus on the public and regulated sectors alongside high-quality private clients," it added.

The average month-end cash for the six months ended 31 December 2022 was around £154m, down from £174m at the end of June, and period-end cash at the end of December was around £195m, versus £211m at the same time a year earlier.

This is in line with the board's expectations given recent acquisitions, ongoing investment in cloud-based digital systems, and circa £10m of dividends and capital returns in the half year.