<p>The Miller Group “powered ahead”during 2006, as its housebuilding business grew turnover by 44% to £707 million, with a 41% increase in housing completions to almost 4,000 homes in its first full year following the Fairclough acquisition. The Group also saw record growth across its property development and construction operations, contributing to a 35% growth in turnover to £1.2 billion, with pre-tax profits of £81.9 million – up 26%. Finance director John Richards said the acquisition had given the business a major boost. </p> <p>“Fairclough has proved a strong cultural fit. We have retained a high number of senior staff, and in that sense it has been a genuine merger of the best brains. Fairclough was stronger than us in certain parts of the UK, with some of their mds running businesses double the size of ours.” Richards said Miller was now focused on expanding its housebuilding operations, investing in larger sites. “There are more large sites on the market, from £20 million to £30 million, and that’s the level we want to be aiming for. It’s easier to do business this way than building lots of smaller 50-unit schemes. We needed to be at the top of the table …