THE owner of Ayrshire haulage-to-construction firm Maxi Group took a 300% pay rise last year in preparation for retirement, possibly in three years' time.

Gerry Atkinson, 60, will eventually hand over the reins to sons Richard and Douglas, but stressed he has no immediate plans to step down.

In the year to September 30, Atkinson paid himself (pounds) 651,000, up from (pounds) 157,000 the previous year. He also received company pension contributions of (pounds) 250,000, the same as 2002.

Atkinson said: ''In the past I have not taken as much money out of the business as other people in similar (firms). Over the next three years I will get a bonus over and above what I have typically received, so that I will have the option to retire at that point.''

Brought up in Hull, Atkinson, a chartered builder by profession, came to Irvine in the mid-1970s to work on the Volvo bus assembly plant. He later took over one of Volvo's subcontracted haulage firms and made it the bedrock of a business which has since grown steadily.

Today, Maxi Haulage is one of the UK's biggest private haulage companies, with about 160 trucks, based mainly at English depots. Volvo remains a major customer.

Maxi Warehousing has several hundred thousand square feet of space, mainly at Irvine and Bellshill, while Maxi Construction builds and restores commercial and industrial buildings. The diversified group, which employs more than 300, also includes Elliotts bar and restaurant on Glasgow's Bath Street.

Discounting the impact of higher directors' pay, Maxi managed to boost margins last year, following management changes and cost-cutting in its core haulage business.

The firm posted a pre-tax surplus of (pounds) 573,000, a like-

for-like increase of 24% on 2002. Turnover edged up to (pounds) 26.6m, from (pounds) 26m the previous year.

Atkinson said Maxi intends to build a new group headquarters at Tournament Park, Irvine, the 75-acre former Volvo site which the firm acquired two years ago.

The construction side of the business is currently quiet, he added, because the company has taken a strategic decision to stop tendering for low-margin projects. That has led to a fall in turnover, but he expects income to pick up again when the division begins work on new in-house schemes.