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Revenue at the consultancy was 拢270m in the year to 30 April 2010, down from 拢327.8m in the previous 12 months. Pre-tax profit was 拢34.1m, down 14.1% from 拢39.7m in 2009.

The fall in revenue casts doubt on EC Harris鈥� ambition to go public in 2013 because the firm has said the move is dependent on revenue of between 拢400m and 拢500m.

However, chief executive Philip Youell (pictured) said the company was forecasting that it would come out of the recession strongly, recording revenue growth during the calendar year 2010.

鈥淭he plan for IPO [initial public offering] recognises four years of growth to come,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e knew we needed to turn the business around and we know we need to be bigger, but that is what we are doing.鈥�

Youell blamed the drop in revenue on uncertainty about new projects caused by the global financial crisis and said the situation could have been worse had the company not diversified into new areas, such as oil, gas and energy.

鈥淲e moved to sectors where we could see continuing investment,鈥� he said.

The average number of staff employed in the year to 30 April 2010 was 2,679, down from 3,280 in the previous year, a fall of 18.3%.

Youell attributed this to the 鈥渃hanging nature of work鈥�, with an increase in the number of temporary staff at the expense of permanent employees. But he expected staff numbers to have grown again in 2010, in line with revenue.

He also said that EC Harris would acquire businesses rather than selling up itself.

鈥淪ince I joined in 2003 and indeed prior to that, interest has been there with both tentative and firm approaches, but it has not been right for us,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e need to grow the business quickly and are identifying other firms that can go on a journey with us.鈥�