The UK has the fastest-growing economy, so said the IMF last week. This should perhaps provide a timely boost to stocks, some of which have traded in a narrow range of late, or at the smaller cap end even tracked southwards.

Opportunities no doubt exist across the board, but as is usually the case, care needs to be taken in relation to companies where the growth has already been factored into the share price.

One company that has cropped up on my radar which may be worth a closer look, albeit with a speculative element, is little known Aukett Swanke, which despite what the name may imply, is very much a UK-based operation.

The company, which is the result of a convergence of Aukett Fitzroy Robinson and rival Swanke Hayden Connell’s European arm, is something of a rare breed in being a quoted architectural business.

The tying of this particular knot came at the back end of last year, some time after Aukett itself was almost acquired after what appears to have been years of underperformance.

Perhaps that will come as no surprise, as in my experience, architectural businesses can be very good at spending the money, perhaps less so on conserving the cash.

That may sound churlish or disingenuous and, given that I am making a case for this particular stock, it is perhaps worth homing in on some positive aspects of the business and the potential investment upside.

A quick look at the performance of the business in years prior to the acquisition reveals that things have been pretty poor, with revenue declining from 2009 to 2011 and losses in each year.

However, it is worth taking into consideration the harsh economic backdrop to that, particularly in relation to construction and related activity, not just here in the UK, but the global market which accounted for a smaller level of revenue for the business.

Such previous sentiment and performance may suggest Aukett is one to steer clear of, with better prospects elsewhere as others in the sector have clearly demonstrated and delivered on recovery that has been reflected in their respective share price performance.

However, the company would appear to be not only revitalised, but well positioned and perhaps already halfway round turning the corner.

Last year’s reported full year revenues came in at a modest £8.4m, which in turn saw a pre-tax profit of £550k, giving EPS of 0.26p.

That in itself is certainly nothing to get overly excited by and at the current price of just south of 8p, may suggest the price is right.

But, further delving may well imply there is potentially significant upside on offer, not only in the short, but longer term too, as the more recent interim numbers delivered last month imply further confidence.

Posting numbers for the six months to March 31, the company, which not only concentrates on architectural services but interior design as well, talked of greatly increased revenues on the back of an improving UK property development sector.

Perhaps of particular note was the delivery of pre-tax profits of £750k, an increase on the last full year after a £2.19m revenue contribution from the new division kicked in.

Total revenues for the period came out at £7.58m against the £8.4m achieved for the whole of last year, implying growth across its markets.

As a result, suggestions that the company may deliver full year sales of £16m may not be wide of the mark, as the board certainly sounded a confident note across the various segments.

Indeed, trading continued to be strong throughout the UK market along with progress within Europe and the Middle East as activity levels picked up.

The company has also sounded a positive note on cash conversion, talking of possible further investment opportunities ahead.

The now enlarged group would certainly appear to be a good fit and with both arms being very highly regarded, the business would seem to be back in growth mode and could deliver increasing profits on the back of winning new business supported by strong synergies and cost efficiencies.

Within the UK the company has some well cemented relationships, having worked on many historic buildings including the Royal Exchange at Bank in London and projects for the likes of MS.

The new division also brings with it blue chip clients such as Merrill Lynch, Glaxo-SmithKline, BNP Paribas and Google.

Closer to home the company has also been heavily involved with Napp Pharmaceuticals here in Cambridge, while it presently also has a separate 150k sq ft project in progress within the city, with others here also coming to fruition.

Current broker forecasts from FinnCap suggest full year pre-tax profits of £1.4m and EPS of 0.7p which gives a PER of 10 at today’s price.

While that is at a discount to the sector average of 14, it perhaps doesn’t reflect any potential upside next year although, given the company’s previous poor record of delivery on margins and profit, there does remain a speculative element to any potential investment in Aukett.

However, the market is buoyant and the company appears confident not only in the short term, but with medium term prospects too.

Any continuation of the recent drive of revenue growth, profit and cash generation, could well see earnings rise further next year, which would see the PER fall into single digit figures.