The Barnsley and Bristol based steelwork firm said it had seen a marked increase in the number of enquiries for tubular steel structures and decided to revive its Tubecon arm to market, expand and source alternative types of specialist structural steelwork.

Billington aims to offer the specialist steelwork to UK contractors and develop export markets.

Earlier in the year, Billington launched a site hoarding system, which will be less impacted by the downturn.

Billington has also increased production activity in recent months after securing a haul of wins for supermarkets.

Despite the contract haul, Billington warned that the general downturn in orders would impact on the business this year and next.

In the first six months of the year, profits more than halved to £1.1m on turnover down a third at £21m.

Peter Hems, executive chairman of Billington Holdings, said: “I believe that our reputation for delivering contracts on time and on budget has been key to winning  recent contracts, albeit at lower margins than 2009.

“We have further enhanced our product range with the launch of hoard-it, a unique hoarding system, and the revival of ‘Tubecon’, our specialised tubular steel division, both of which are less exposed to the economic cycles of the construction industry.”