Highways job drives Amey to the top of contractors' table

Amey shot to the top of the latest monthly contractors’ league table, including civils, after securing a £450m highways maintenance contract for Gloucestershire council.

The contract - Amey’s sole win in December – was enough to push Bam into second place in the league table, including civils.

Bam’s £326m haul comprised 14 contracts and included a £200m rail renewal contract for Network Rail in Sussex, as well as the £28m revamp of the Curtis Green building in London that will form the new headquarters for the Metropolitan Police.

Meanwhile, Balfour Beatty topped the contractors’ league table, excluding civils, with a £290m contract haul. The firm’s wins included the £113m job to transform the Olympic stadium for legacy use, as well as a £49.5m job, in a joint venture with Kier, to build a technical college for the Ministry of Defence at RAF Lyneham.

Wates was second in the league table, excluding civils, with a £279m contract haul that included Scape’ £100m EMPA regional framework.

Overall the construction index dropped from 125 in November to 113 in December - although this was still 2% higher than a year ago.

The index, compiled by the Construction Products Association (CPA) using data from construction information provider Barbour ABI, measures contract awards and uses a January 2010 base of 100.

Noble Francis, economics director at the CPA, said the fall was not surprising as the construction industry largely closed down over the Christmas period.

He added there were encouraging signs in the latest index that growth was returning to public sector construction, albeit from a low base.