The firms have joined forces to form BS2 which was officially launched in London last night to an audience of leading contractors,clients, consultants and developers.

The BS2 joint venture is already in talks with a number of clients in a bid to break the stranglehold of Severfield Rowen and William Hare on large steel contracts in the capital.

Billington’s managing director Steve Fareham told the Enquirer: “The market at the moment is dominated by two companies.

“Nothing against those two, they do a great job, but the time is right for a new outfit to enter the market.

“It makes sense for us to join forces because together we can go after those £8m plus jobs which were a bit beyond us as separate companies.”

BS2 is headed by Tom Goldberg, who is a former president of the British Constructional Steelwork Association and has worked on high profile projects including Broadgate, London Bridge City and Canary Wharf.

One source close to the joint venture said: “The market in general might be struggling but London is a separate case so it is a logical move to join forces and bid for jobs in that growing market.

“We will be looking for jobs in the £8m plus bracket and seeing how things develop.

“The massive jobs with steelwork packages of £40m are too big at the moment but the idea is to grow the firm and see where the market takes us.”