Arup has boosted turnover by 10% in the past 12 months and expects to hit its full-year profit targets despite planned job cuts, its new chairman claims

Philip Dilley (pictured) said the firm, which was named Engineer of the Year at the 2009 好色先生TV Awards, would unveil revenue of 拢800m for the year to 31 March 2009, up from 拢726m in 2008.

The news comes as Dilley, who took over from Terry Hill on 1 April, set out his goals for his tenure, including an increased presence in Saudi Arabia and India and a key role in the UK鈥檚 nuclear new-build programme.

Dilley admitted it was a 鈥渃hallenging鈥� time to be taking the reins. He said that 400 people from Arup鈥檚 offices around the world would lose their jobs after its redundancy consultation finished in the middle of this month and that there were no guarantees against future cuts.

He said: 鈥淚 hope there won鈥檛 be any more. If Gordon Brown was right at the G20, there won鈥檛 be, but I rather suspect it won鈥檛 go as smoothly as he would like.鈥�

If Gordon Brown was right at the G20, there won鈥檛 be any more redundancies.

Philip Dilley

Last week Dilley, who has worked at Arup for 33 years, revealed a new structure for the business, which will operate around four markets: energy, industry and resources; property; social infrastructure and transport.

Dilley said the new shape would boost 鈥渏oined-up thinking鈥� within the firm. 鈥淭ake something like the Heathrow Hub. If you just put a lot of rail people together or a lot of aviation people together, you鈥檒l get the wrong project. It needs a more integrated approach.鈥�

Transport and energy would be the main focus in the immediate future owing to market conditions, he added. The firm is bidding for five Crossrail packages through the design framework and aims to secure a slice of the nuclear market.

Globally, Dilley said his priorities include strengthening Arup鈥檚 Gulf offices as a base for expansion, particularly into Saudi Arabia, which he said would be 鈥渁 very important country for us鈥�.

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