Lawson, aged 61, brings a wealth of construction sector knowledge and experience having previously also been a main board director of Kier Group for 13 years.

He was forced to step down at Severfield last year due to a prolonged illness, from which he has now recovered.

His appointment was announced as Billington reported half-year results with pre-tax profits dipping 13% to just under £2m due to increased competition and steel price rises.

Mark Smith, chief executive, said that Billington had experienced an extremely busy first half of the year, reflected in a 15% increase in revenue to £39m.

But the steelwork contractor was also impacted by movements in steel prices and a tightening of profit margins.

“Over the period, there was still caution in the industry, especially due to ongoing uncertainties surrounding the UK’s departure from the European Union. Fluctuations in the price of the primary raw materials used to produce steel continue to have an impact on the group,” said Smith.

“The company continues to monitor developments with trade tariffs and other influencing factors impacting the market price of the company’s raw materials and aims to mitigate these wherever possible.”

He added: “However, Billington currently has a good forward order book and has secured a number of large, high quality projects to be undertaken in the second half of 2018, as well as exciting prospects for early 2019.

“This, together with continued market improvements, puts Billington in a robust position for the rest of 2018 and the company expects to meet its full-year forecast.”

All group companies performed well over the period, with Peter Marshall Steel Stairs and hoard-it having a particularly positive first six months of the year

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