Honiton-based SC Group (scgroup-global.com) has seen its turnover rise to £43.1 million — thanks to an order from the Australian government for 89 of its HMT Extenda vehicles — and pre-tax profits of £5.9 million follow a loss of £66,152 the year before.

Chief executive Nick Ames said that the business is continuing to diversify in the wake of “challenging times” for the defence sector.

He added: “The growth was substantially down to the Australian contract. It is our mission to try to balance the business with a strong underlying base and pick up larger orders when they arise.

“I feel we are exposed to a very open domestic market with very few constraints. However, we find when we export that we are required to spend a percentage of the contract value in the country we are exporting to.

“As a result, we have to develop supply chains; that adds risk, time and cost. Margins are challenged, and that means we are not able to invest.”