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Brian May, chief executive of Renew Holdings, has said its specialist engineering arm will account for half of group turnover by 2012.

In a shift of priorities, May (pictured) said the arm had the biggest potential for growth after its building division suffered in the recession.

The company said: 鈥淥ur aim is to increase revenue in specialist engineering both organically and by acquisition, while maintaining operating margins in the target range of 3% to 4%.鈥�

Brian May

Chief executive of Renew Holdings

The division covers the nuclear, rail, water and land remediation sectors and its turnover grew 23% from 拢93.3m to 拢114.8m in the year to 30 September 2009.

It accounts for 36% of group revenue compared with 24% last year. May said: 鈥淚t gives us protection against what is happening elsewhere.鈥�

Overall turnover at the company fell 19% from 拢390.6m to 拢316.6m, which was largely due to the weaker performance of its specialist building division, which covers education and the high-end residential refurbishment market. The arm鈥檚 turnover fell by almost a third from 拢294.6m to 拢202.4m.

Pre-tax profit at the group fell 18% from 拢6.7m to 拢4.9m but after one-off items, which included 拢2.2m of redundancy costs, the profit figure was down 83% to 拢1.2m.

Renew made 300 redundancies at its building division owing to the fall-off in work, leaving its overall staff level at 1,200.

Along with other contractors that include Galliford Try, Kier and ISG, Renew said it would appeal against a 拢3.5m fine issued by the OFT in relation to its cover pricing probe.