Haden Building Management rebrands as Balfour Beatty WorkPlace

Haden Building Management has rebranded as Balfour Beatty WorkPlace and plans to grow turnover from £400m to £1bn within five years.

The facilities management arm of Balfour Beatty said the move would see it provide more all-round facilities management services to its “increasingly sophisticated” group of clients.

Kevin Craven, managing director of the division, said: “Clients require more sophisticated operators to help manage their estates and want the single point of contact that we can provide.”

He said adopting the Balfour Beatty brand name would also act to reassure clients about the division’s financial muscle during the downturn.

The group is currently growing turnover at about 20% per year and would need  acquisitions to add about £200m to hit the £1bn turnover target within five years.

Craven refused to rule out swooping for a big player and pointed to a lower turnover limit of £50m for acquisitions.

He said: “In order to be the market leader we need to hit the £1bn turnover mark. I would never say never to a large acquisition. In the next few years you will see companies driven closer to the wall and the Balfour Beatty balance sheet means we are able to enter the market.”

Brian Osbourne, group managing director of Balfour Beatty, also refused to rule out going back to the stock market to raise capital to fund such a deal.

He said: “The biggest growth potential in the UK business is from facilities management. It depends on what crosses our table at the time but we wouldn’t count out going back to the market for new cash. Balfour Beatty still has an extremely strong name.”