Back in March 2005, the pound;32m LSE conversion was the largest contract Osborne had ever taken on. Adrian Smith, its managing surveyor, says its strategy is now to go for bigger jobs. He says: "You can have the same amount of grief on a small job, which can make it less profitable. Most of the big players, such as Bovis Lend Lease, which were in the pound;20-50m range are now concentrating on even bigger projects, so we saw a gap in the market." The strategy seems to have paid off as Osborne has just announced its most profitable year ever, with a 27 increase in pre-tax profit on a 7 increase in turnover. Smith adds the company still does small jobs to maintain relations with its suppliers. The contract was a two-stage, lump-sum, design and build. Osborne was invited to pre-qualify in March 2005 and succeeded on the basis of its technical and logistical understanding of the project and percentage mark-up. Osborne was appointed to the second stage ahead of Bovis, Kier, ISG InteriorExterior and HBG. "This was a good sign, as they're not our normal competitors," says Smith.
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