The monthly total of £5.25bn for June did not reach the values of January and February of this year, but it did mark a £1bn increase on last month, said Builders’ Conference chief executive Neil Edwards. “Furthermore, looking back at the first two quarters of 2019, the cumulative total is £41.38bn, close on double the £27.95bn achieved in the same period last year when the industry was patting itself on the back for its unprecedented levels of stability.”
However, only eight of the companies in BCLive league table lodged new contract awards of more than £100m during the month; once again housing dominated.
In total, 416 companies were recorded as winning new contracts during June 2019; with 656 new construction orders detailed on BCLive. Morgan Sindall had the largest number of new construction orders in the month, with 16.
Edwards added: “If the storm clouds are gathering, then they are currently barely visible on the horizon and may not reach the sector until end of October when Brexit might spark a change in the weather.”
He said that there remains a question as to whether a contract for the work at Olympia has been awarded to Laing O’Rourke or whether it has merely been named as preferred bidder. Either way, it seems highly likely that the company has won the massive project, which is thought to comprise offices, a theatre, retail and restaurants, a hotel and car parking as well as conference facilities.
In second place - a long way behind Laing O’Rourke - is Telford Homes, which was awarded a £276.4m new-build project for 894 build-to-rent homes at Nine Elms Park. The new development will be close to the new US Embassy and within walking distance of two stations on the extended Northern Line.
Taking third spot this month is Barratt Homes, which collected six new contract awards worth a combined £178.8m. The largest of these is a £54m new-build comprising apartments, townhouses and commercial space at Millbrook Park in Mill Hill, London.
In fourth place – again courtesy of a single contract – is Mace, which won a £100m project to extend and refurbish the Finsbury Tower as part of the Hylo Project for client CIT Group Partners.
Galliford Try – last month’s winner - claimed the number five position, picking up nine new projects worth a combined £111.5m. The largest is a £45m project to build retail units behind an existing façade at 1 Great Cumberland Place for client Portman Estate.
London reclaimed its position at the top of the regional list with 133 new contract awards totalling more than £2.2bn. It was followed by the North West (£419m), the West Midlands (£305m) and Scotland (£275m).
Again, housing dominated the breakdown of sectors, thanks to contracts worth £2.08bn. Laing O'Rourke's massive deal counts as 'miscellaneous' at present – putting the sector in second place with a total of almost £1.29bn - as the precise mix is not known. Roads and rail and only managed £141m and £25m, respectively in May.
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