Aukett Swanke says recovery is leading to wage rises

Architecture practice Aukett Swanke has said the scale of the recovery in the UK now means the amount it pays its staff is beginning to rise.

As the country’s only listed architect, the firm, which is obliged by stock exchange rules to put out interim results and trading updates, can be a bellwether for how the market is performing and in a trading update said it had “traded profitably in the second half” and that full year results would be “in line with board expectations”.

It added: “The UK continued to improve its financial performance in the second half but, as expected, this was tempered by rising salary costs and integration and property costs.”

The firm, which is the masterplanner for a research hub for Imperial College London in west London, said the amount of money it was returning to shareholders in a dividend would be 0.21 pence per share for the full year. It began paying a dividend again earlier this year after an absence of five years.

Last year’s pre-tax profit was £550,000 on revenue of £8.4 million. Its 2014 results are due to be announced in January.