Defence contract gives Carillion a fighting chance

Carillion has catapulted itself to the top of the contractors’ league for July thanks to a multimillion-pound Ministry of Defence contract, after having failed to appear in the in June table.

A trio of deals, including a £1.5bn contract to redevelop and run a military facility in Northwood, west London, helped place Carillion at the top of the table. The contract follows hard on the heels of Carillion’s success in reaching financial close on the MoD’s £12bn Allenby and Connaught project to redevelop barracks in Salisbury and Aldershot.

Swedish contractor Skanska was not far behind, landing contracts worth more than £164m. Bovis Lend Lease came in at number three in the monthly tables. Its deals included a £97m contract to build a city-centre campus for the University of Worcester. Bovis was followed by HBG Construction and Kier in fourth and fifth places respectively.

Of the top six firms, all but Carillion got the bulk of their July work from public sector contracts. Public sector work continued to dominate the industry, accounting for 51% of total work won last month. Commercial contracts accounted for 40%, whereas housing made up just 6%. The remaining 3% work was won in the industrial sector.

When civils work is included, Carillion and Skanska swap places at the top, but close behind them in third place is May Gurney. Last month, the Norfolk-based contractor was awarded a £20-25m five-year contract to deliver highway maintenance services for West Sussex council.

Skanska’s second place in the July table was not enough to knock Balfour Beatty off the top of the rolling annual league table where it still holds a commanding lead.

This is despite Balfour only managing sixth place in the tables for July, with deals worth £107m.

Carillion’s pole position in July’s table helped to push it up one spot to number four in the annual table, with Kier moving into fifth position.