A West Yorkshire building services group has come out fighting as recession continues to blight the construction sector by clinching £22 million of maintenance contracts.

Bradford-based Morrisons is among new clients signed up by Bailey Maintenance, the specialist maintenance arm of Ilkley-based N G Bailey, the UK’s leading independent building services group.

The firm has won a number of new major contracts as well as expanding others and retaining existing clients.

The work has been gained under a new management team and marks the start of a five-year strategy to expand Bailey’s client base.

Bailey Maintenance will carry out work on safety and ensuring energy efficiency at Morrisons, which operates more than 430 stores across the UK and from March will add 16 former Netto stores.

Southeastern railway is among the national firms which have awarded work to Bailey Maintenance.

Bailey Maintenance’s managing director Stuart Linington said: “In an increasingly competitive marketplace, we are delighted to have been awarded new contracts, and expanded or retained existing ones from some of the biggest and best-known companies in the UK.

“The launch of a new delivery model more focused on the needs of our customers has played an important role in securing this work.

“So too has our determination to keep pace with advances in maintenance techniques and industry best practice, as well as embracing the latest innovations in energy efficiency and sustainable technology.

“The work cuts across all sectors in which we specialise including rail, retail, education, financial and professional services and government buildings and half of them are for three years.

“It is an endorsement of the new way of partnership working that we have adopted, as well as our commitment to stay at the forefront of industry innovation and quality.”

The contract wins provide a major boost for the privately-owned N G Bailey Group, which managed to remain profitable in 2009-10 despite a 23 per cent drop in sales as the recession continued to hit the construction sector.

But the likelihood of the downturn continuing for at least another two years led the company to cut its workforce by seven per cent to reduce costs as it expected to see lower sales and profits.

In the year to February 26, 2010, the N G Bailey Group achieved a pre tax profit of £19.9 million, mainly due to income from projects started before the recession.

The board set aside substantial investment for 2010-11 to help improve Bailey’s market penetration, capitalise on its technical expertise and target new and emerging sectors while developing its core businesses.

David Hurcomb joined the group as its new chief executive in September.