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Business barometer

The new year got off to a strong start with contractors picking up more than 360 contracts worth £2.4bn in January – a 41% increase on December.

Bovis Lend Lease secured pole position in 2007 thanks to a quartet of contracts valued at £451m.

Public sector work accounted for £385m of Bovis’ deals, with commercial deals making up the remainder. The biggest win was a £335m contract with the Ministry of Defence to provide single living accommodation across barracks in the UK.

Second place went to HBG Construction, whose 32 contracts brought it £374m of work. It had a fairly even mix of schemes, with £199m of public and £174m of commercial contracts. HBG’s projects included the £46m Glasgow Maritime Museum by Zaha Hadid.

Social housing maintenance specialist Inspace made a rare appearance in the upper reaches of the list, coming third in January with deals worth £192m. Inspace’s contract wins include a nationwide £42m scheme for Connected Consortium and a £27.5m project for Places for People in Warburton, near Manchester.

South of England contractor Apollo Group came fourth thanks to six contracts worth £160m in total. Sir Robert McAlpine came a close fifth with £150m from a single contract for a shopping centre in Bath, for clients Multi Development and Morley Fund Management.

In the rolling table, Balfour Beatty remained at the top, with a dominant lead. During the 12 months to 31 January 2007, it secured 907 contracts worth more than £3.5bn.

Bovis’ strong performance last month pushed it into second place. However it remains £1.5bn behind the leader, with 30 contracts equal to about £2bn. In the regional table Bovis led the way in the north of England, the South-west and Wales.

Bovis’ promotion pushes Skanska into third position with £1.9bn from 196 contract wins.