Exclusive: Spencer aims to bring HQ to region

The figure grew from 60m to 85m in the year to the end of January 2010 and profits more than doubled from 472,000 to 1m.

The firm, which works on infrastructure projects in the renewables, rail and social transport sector, is based in Barrow-on-Humber in North East Lincolnshire. But founder and chairman Charlie Spencer told the Yorkshire Post he wants to move staff to Yorkshire in the next three years.

He said: "We have two offices in Yorkshire – in Hessle and Barton – but our head office is in Barrow. It would make sense to amalgamate Barrow, Hessle and Barton offices. It would be nice to build that office in Yorkshire on the north bank of the Humber, or nearer Leeds, and have a Yorkshire head office.

"I'm from Yorkshire and we're a Yorkshire business."

Mr Spencer said it had been a year of "consolidation" for the company after losing 4m between 2007 and 2009 during a difficult transport interchange project in Glasgow. But he added that it is now back on track and looking to grow further through acquisitions.

The company, which employs 400 staff, also benefited from the collapse of York rail firm Jarvis after taking six senior employees from its signalling division.

Mr Spencer said: "Taking on the Jarvis staff has meant that we haven't had to go down the path of acquisitions on the railways side of the business but we will continue to look at acquisitions that add value to the company." C Spencer has gained a strong foothold in the renewables sector in recent years.

Finance director Paul Gratton said: "It's about 25 per cent of our work at the moment but it's an expanding area for us."

The company is nearing the completion of the biggest job currently on its books – an 18m contract to design and build a system to enable Drax power station to unload and store green fuel.

The firm is building the facilities as part of an 80m co-firing project, which will see the Selby company burning coal with biomass fuel to create electri-city.

Last year C Spencer won 36 tenders compared to 91 the previous year, a figure which Mr Spencer said reflected a deliberate strategic change.

"Fewer contracts is a reflection of us seeking larger projects," he said. "It's very difficult to build a business on the back of a lot of small projects around the country.

"The biggest jobs we've bid on are in the 50m-60m range. We've been preferred bidder on two projects which were scrapped."

In the last decade, the company has diversified its skill-base in order to take on more complex jobs.

It has also invested 1m in developing its own in-house web-based document controlled system, which it hopes to roll out commercially in the next 12 months.

Mr Spencer said: "I don't think our markets have been particularly affected by the recession but the uncertainty surrounding the election has had an impact.

"There's going to be a lull and a digestion of the situation and then things will take off again. We'll finish the year very strongly and I expect that to go into 2011."