A COUNCIL owned building firm has earned the city millions of pounds to re-invest in services, bosses have said.

City Building, last year generated £5.29m in returns to the council its annual report reveals today.

The cash is despite a drop in turnover of £6m.

The firm generated most of its cash form council projects and housing association repair contracts in the city but it also bids for work on the open market.

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It will soon enter into a 50/50 partnership with Wheatley Group, GHA’s parent company, which the firm said will secure jobs and apprenticeships through guaranteed non-tender work over the next 20 years.

Last year, 2015/16, City Building had a turnover of £209m, down from £215m the previous year.

The £5.6m return to the council is an increase of almost 6% on last year’s contribution and takes the total to more than £50m since the firm was set up.

Frank McAveety, Glasgow City Council leader, said the company had done well in a difficult economic climate.

He said: “The UK’s construction sector is facing particularly challenging times, which makes the performance of the team at City Building all the more impressive.

“When we set up City Building almost a decade ago, it had two key objectives – to compete successfully in the marketplace and to set new ethical standards for business.”

He said it had showed it can compete by winning more than £1bn of private contracts and was providing benefits in the city as well.

He added “For example, it’s one of the largest providers of apprenticeships in the country, currently employing a total of 324 apprentices, with 70 young people completing their training this year alone.”

A significant amount of work has been guaranteed with the awarding of a schools refurbishment contract of £250m to rebuild or refurbish 111 schools in the city.

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City building also owns Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries, (RSBi) employing more than 250 people, half with disabilities, to manufacture furniture.

It showed a drop in income from £27m to £25m after a major contact reached its completion.

It still had many lucrative contracts including furniture for the student accommodation market, supplying the NHS, Scottish Prison Service and Scottish Fire & Rescue and timber for the housebuilding industry.

Graham Paterson, City Building executive director was optimistic for the firm’s future.

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He said: “We compete for work on the open market against many major private companies, and securing contracts in such a competitive market underlines the high level our people operate at.

“The year ahead is a very significant one for us and we’re pleased to be entering the new joint venture in such robust shape.”