Laing O’Rourke strikes it rich in Bedfordshire

Laing O’Rourke took top spot in the last contractors table of the year with deals worth £199m – more than double its nearest rival.

The largest of its contracts was a £120m scheme for Aldwyck Housing Association in Bedfordshire. It also scooped a £30m office project for PPG Metro in Glasgow.

Wates secured second place thanks to 27 contracts winsworth a total of £94m. Its largest deal was a £40m housing development for Newcastle council.

Carillion landed the largest single project of the month, which helped it to third place. This was its half of a joint venture with Balfour Beatty to extend the East London line, a job with a total worth of £181m. After winning a hat-trick of deals for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in October, it picked up another defence contract last month – a £39m project for barracks in Catterick, North Yorkshire.

Balfour Beatty came in just behind Carillion. Its haul of 49 contracts was the largest of the month in terms of the number won; they had a combined value of £71m.

The table highlights the continuing strength of the commercial market, which accounted for 44%, or £518m, of the month’s work. Public sector contracts provided the second biggest chunk of work, equal to 29% or £329m, followed by housing with 26% (£302m), and industrial with 2% (£26m).

When civils work is included, Laing O’Rourke and Carillion swap places, with Carillion taking the top spot. There was no change at the top of the rolling table, where Balfour Beatty continues to maintain its huge lead over its rivals. Over the 12 months to 30 November, the contractor secured 973 contracts worth more than £3.4bn.

Below Balfour Beatty, Carillion finally moved into second place, dislodging Skanska, which has held the position since May. Carillion landed almost £2bn from 86 contracts. It nudged ahead of Skanska which has work worth £1.9bn from 195 contracts.