Consulting and business services group, Mouchel, has posted another buoyant set of results to the City. Chief executive, Richard Cuthbert, revealed a 49% increase in half-year revenue to £308m, with revenue growth up 17%. The wave of modernisation projects now being finalised by local authorities has helped boost Mouchel's forward-order book to a record £2.3bn. Among these were the highways contract for Hertfordshire CC, and a bundled services contract with Lincolnshire CC. The move by local authorities to pull contracts together and work with fewer contractors has benefited the group – its operating profits rose 28% to £18m. The complementary acquisitions of HBS and Hedra have also proved a pivotal factor in the continued strong performance. Mr Cuthbert told City chiefs: ‘We continue to reap the rewards of a strategy which is focused on working closely with UK public sector organisations. ‘All of our clients want to reduce the cost of service delivery while' at the same time' improve the quality of those services. ‘The general market outlook for our services remains good, and we continue to be confident about our future prospects.'