Carillion advances to front after string of military victories

Four contracts from the Royal School of Military Engineering propelled Carillion to the top of the leader board in September. The jobs, which were worth a combined £259.5m, included barracks at Chatham in Kent (£61m), Minley in Surrey (£91.3m) and Bicester in Oxfordshire (£77.2m). The support services juggernaut also won a £57.3m job to provide student accommodation for Aston University in Birmingham.

Education proved a fruitful sector for contractors, and second-placed Wates picked up a £45m deal with Canterbury college in Kent. It also won a £42.6m commercial deal in Winnersh, Berkshire, for property group Segro and a £17.5m residential job in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.

The good news was that the total number of jobs won by the top 30 contractors was 342, the same as in September 2007. The bad news was that their total value was £1.42bn, which was £606m down on this time last year.

In third place was Morgan Sindall with wins that included a £44.2m college scheme for Devon council in Bideford and a £20.2m prison job in Perth, Scotland.

The top five was completed by Kier and Balfour Beatty with 33 and 50 wins apiece. Balfour Beatty’s haul included the £23m South Bristol Skills Academy.

Sixth spot was taken by Laing O’Rourke, which won a £70m mixed-use job in Blackfriars, London. It also held off Balfour Beatty at the top of the annual rolling leader board with 37 wins worth £4.17bn.

ISG came in seventh, with a total of 33 jobs that included a £15m deal for Standard Bank in London. Following close behind was Rok, whose wins included a £40m housing deal in Rochdale. In ninth place was the contractor formerly known as HBG. The newly-christened BAM UK won four jobs that included a £25m deal for the Finzels Reach office and retail scheme in Bristol.

Norwest Holst completed the top 10 with nine jobs that included a £16.2m deal for Penine Acute Hospitals in Oldham.