Galliford Try maintain order book

According to Galliford Try's interim management statement, the contractor has maintained an order book of £1.7billion, of which 87% is made up of public sector and regulated work. Prisons, schools and the infrastructure sector are areas

The board also claimed in the statement that: "the improvement in the housing market that we saw during the first few weeks of the New Year has been maintained and we have been making sales to private purchasers at similar levels to a year ago with prices and incentives held at autumn 2008 levels."

Its housebuilding, affordable housing and regeneration divisions have reserved, contracted or completed sales worth £400million, of which £288million is for the current financial year.

The trading news follows on from the firms announcement of its acquisition of the residential development assets of Hull-based Wright Homes for £7 million earlier this week