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For those who think Sir Robert McAlpine is all about building, think again.

The firm behind a string of high-profile schemes in recent years, including Arsenal鈥檚 Emirates stadium, the main stadium for the 2012 Olympic Games and the redevelopment of the Broadgate complex in the City, now wants to muscle in and trade blows with the roads and rail specialists.

Under chief executive Paul Hamer, who joined the business four years ago from WYG 鈥� then a listed consultant which was taken private two summers ago after being bought by US firm Tetra Tech 鈥� McAlpine is now looking to target more civils and infrastructure work over the next five years than it probably has done in the previous couple of decades.

鈥淭here鈥檚 some very big established players [in civils] but the market is big enough to accommodate McAlpine with some of the skills we鈥檝e got,鈥� Hamer says.

The move should not be too much of a surprise to McAlpine historians. The firm has always worked in civils and, after all, acquired its Concrete Bob nickname from its work on the extension of the West Highland Railway to Mallaig on Scotland鈥檚 west coast in the 1890s. The structures on the route, including the 21-arch Glenfinnan Viaduct beloved of  Harry Potter fans, involved new techniques designed to save labour through the pioneering use of concrete.

But a concerted effort to get civils work up from its current 18% of business to more than 30% does feel like a bit of sea-change. 鈥淥ur plan is to roughly double our business in the sector,鈥� Hamer admits.

He says the government鈥檚 focus on construction to lead the country鈥檚 economic recovery from the covid-19 pandemic has helped the firm make up its mind to look at more jobs away from its traditional building core.

In the National Infrastructure Strategy, published last November, the government committed to address the historical under-investment in critical infrastructure by pledging to spend over 拢600bn over the next five years, focusing on roads, railways, communications, schools, hospitals and power networks.

In the last recession, construction was the first in and the last out. The focus on construction [this time] was long overdue

鈥淚鈥檓 really pleased the way government has prioritised construction,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚n the last recession, construction was the first in and the last out. The focus on construction [this time] was long overdue.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty clear we would see [government] investment in this [civils and infrastructure] sector and [for us] being mostly building and mostly private clients is not a sustainable place to be for a 152-year-old firm. Infrastructure is public sector, it鈥檚 long-term and it鈥檚 more benign in terms of contracting terms.鈥�

If it feels like a case of following the money, then McAlpine is not alone in doing that. Keltbray, one of McAlpine鈥檚 key subcontractors in the London office market, is branching out into civils, targeting structures work for Highways England. And consultant Gleeds, where more than 90% of its UK business has been from building, now wants a quarter of its revenue to be in infrastructure in the next few years.

Hamer says its two biggest current clients in this market are HS2 and Highways England. McAlpine is part of the Align joint venture on the former where, along with Bouygues and VolkerFitzpatrick, it is carrying out a 拢1.6bn tunnels and crossing contract for the railway in the Chilterns. Last week, Align took delivery of a huge tunnel boring machine (TBM), the first of 10 that HS2 will use on the railway, which will start to dig its way through the Chilterns鈥� chalky and flinty earth.

Its jobs for Highways England, include remodelling junction 19 of the M6 as well as upgrading parts of the M56.

For a firm, whose current tally of 65 live jobs is dominated by building work 鈥� around 85% of its schemes on site are in the sector 鈥� Hamer concedes that McAlpine is not expecting to challenge traditional civils giants like Balfour Beatty and Costain straight away.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a return to the skills and capability we鈥檝e always had. It鈥檚 possible to build momentum slowly and see where the money is going to be spent.鈥�

Hamer spent five years at Costain in the late 1990s where he was recruited by Sir John Armitt, before Armitt headed off to head up Railtrack. He then worked for Armitt鈥檚 replacement, Stuart Doughty, who is now a non-executive at Balfour Beatty.

He left Costain in 2002 and spent five years at the British Nuclear Group, where he was responsible for decommissioning work on the estate鈥檚 fleet of nuclear reactors. So the 52-year-old, who started out at 16 as an apprentice draughtsman at the Stockport office of Humphreys and Glasgow, the 100-year-old engineering contractor bought by Kvaerner and Jacobs in the early 1990s, should know his way around the civils and infrastructure sector.

One job that McAlpine is eyeing is the 拢200m deal to build the HS2 station at Solihull, called Interchange. With a Mace team building the two stations at both ends of the first phase of the line 鈥揅urzon Street and Euston worth around a combined 拢2bn 鈥� it would seem one potential rival will already have its hands full. There will be other bidders, of course, but Hamer admits: 鈥淚nterchange suits us.鈥�

The firm is also looking at working for Network Rail, again on civils jobs only, and is considering bidding for some of the civils schemes that are planned as more nuclear work 鈥� a sector Hamer points out McAlpine was often associated with in the 1960s, 70s and 80s 鈥� comes on stream.

Hamer expects civils and infrastructure to provide up to a third of the firm鈥檚 profit in the coming years, which is timely as last year鈥檚 bottom line was decimated by the covid-19 pandemic.

We鈥檝e all been through recessions before but there鈥檚 been no living precedent about going through a pandemic

鈥淲e鈥檝e all been through recessions before but there鈥檚 been no living precedent about going through a pandemic,鈥� he says.

The firm spent about 拢23m dealing with the pandemic, including the cost of mothballing sites 鈥� jobs in Scotland which include office schemes in Edinburgh were shut longer than England 鈥� and footing the bill for the loss of productivity and picking up the tab as jobs went on longer than expected.  Yesterday, Landsec, the developer on McAlpine鈥檚 office scheme at 21 Moorfields in the City of London, which will be the new headquarters for Deutsche Bank, said practical completion of the block would now be next July 鈥� five months after it was supposed to finish 鈥� because of the fall in productivity at the site caused by the pandemic.

While its profit and turnover took a battering 鈥� a 拢27m pre-tax loss and income down 19% to 拢819.5m 鈥� the firm鈥檚 cash position improved. 鈥淥ur focus was on cash,鈥� Hamer says. 鈥淚t was just over 拢96m, ahead of where we wanted to be.鈥�

Hamer says this year鈥檚 numbers are resembling those before the pandemic took hold, when turnover was just over 拢1bn and pre-tax profit was 拢14.5m.

The pandemic meant the firm was forced to furlough more than 1,000 staff at the height of the first lockdown, in the end seeing 52% of its 2,250 employees put on the government initiative which saw McAlpine claim 拢7.3m. 鈥淸Furlough] created that safety net, it was a critical intervention for sure.鈥�

But those dark days have gone and, last week, the Office for National Statistics said construction output had now topped the level seen before the pandemic, reaching an 18-month high in March.

Some good has come out of it all. 鈥淸The pandemic] really did bring the industry together,鈥� Hamer says. 鈥滻t felt like a positive shift in sentiment and people started to work as a collective unit.

鈥淭he key now is making sure we don鈥檛 go back to how it was pre-covid. Embrace the change and show the government we can move the agenda forward on things like MMC and better productivity rates, which we鈥檝e been talking about for years.鈥�

He admits he has been surprised at the level of activity that has come back. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 delighted as well. It鈥檚 come back quickly and hard.鈥�

Even commercial, which threatened to be the ugly sister to infrastructure鈥檚 Prince Charming, is riding high again and McAlpine is in talks with British Land about the developer鈥檚 schemes at 1 Broadgate, designed by AHMM, and 2-3 Finsbury Avenue, a 37-storey tower drawn up by Danish architect 3XN.

Both have a combined value approaching 拢600m and the firm is also one of two 鈥� the other is Laing O鈥橰ourke 鈥� left in the race for a Derwent development on Baker Street worth around 拢120m and designed by Hopkins.

Derwent, who McAlpine hasn鈥檛 had much experience of working with before, wants to start in earnest this autumn and recently appointed a demolition contractor, Erith, to begin tearing down a set of existing buildings at the site.

About half of McAlpine鈥檚 London business is commercial work 鈥� around 拢350m a year 鈥� so the market remains key. The British Land and Derwent schemes will all have a significant amount of office space in them and Hamer says the demise of the office has been exaggerated, calling the suggestion a 鈥渕isnomer鈥�.

He adds: 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a very strong pipeline of commercial opportunities. The UK is still seen as a top investment destination.

There was a thought that people wouldn鈥檛 return to work. We disagreed with that and it鈥檚 not what we鈥檙e seeing

鈥淲hen the pandemic hit, there was a thought that people wouldn鈥檛 return to work. We disagreed with that and it鈥檚 not what we鈥檙e seeing.

鈥淒evelopers want adaptable, flexible floorspace and they want it to be net zero. They want to future-proof buildings and a huge element of the market is refurbishment [to do that].鈥�

He sees the level of activity first-hand from his trips to sites and, when he is in London, the McAlpine office is just off Bishopsgate 鈥� apt, really, given that through the autumn and winter lockdown months the only people in the Square Mile seemed to be builders.

Hamer comes down to London from his Cheshire home around twice a week and, when he can, he and his wife Cathy visit their two, 20-something children who both live in the capital and have jobs outside construction.

But for this son of Lancashire, the man from Saddleworth 鈥� a town near Oldham which sits in the moors high above the M62 and where it can seemingly rain for months on end 鈥� the north is where home is.

A Manchester City fan, he is also a supporter of Leeds Rhinos, the rugby league club across the Pennines and has made many a trip to the club鈥檚 Headingley home. He says Cathy, who hails from the city, made it a condition of marriage. 鈥淚鈥檓 an adopted Yorkshireman, really,鈥� he adds.