Last year Mace signed deals with Thames Water  and EDF Energy to help delivered their ambitious investment programmes. Now it plans to use these consultancy and project management jobs as a springboard into more infrastructure work.

Stephen Pycroft, chairman and chief executive, revealed the strategic shift as he unveiled turnover up 17% to £851m last year.

He said: “Mace continues to grow and demonstrate our resilience despite the continued challenging market conditions in construction and consultancy.”

Despite a fiercely competitive bidding environment which he warned would  mean the market would not recover for another two years, Mace raised pre-tax profits by 9% to £21m.

Three-quarters of the group’s revenue comes from mainstream construction, which rose from £500m in 2009 to £647m last year.

With major project wins working through the books Mace predicts continued growth this years forecasting turnover to top £700m.

Consultancy contributed £204.3m to group revenue, down almost 10% on the previous year.

To help hits its target of £1bn turnover, Pycroft said Mace would be focusing on infrastructure, energy and utility work while offering building clients property and efficiency solutions.