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Balfour Beatty remained in top spot in the building work league table for June, with a 拢372m haul of contracts, but Wates and Higgins Group were the big movers.

Balfour鈥檚 拢372m haul comprised 79 project wins, including a 拢37m waste water project from United Utilities Water, with the total nearly twice the 拢195m it won last month.

Wates jumped from 12th place last month to 3rd, with 拢167m worth of contracts across 27 projects. Higgins Group moved from 35th to 4th thanks to one major project win, a 拢150m mixed-use housing scheme for Regenter.

Laing O鈥橰ourke moved from 3rd into 2nd place, with four wins totalling 拢269m, including the 拢200m main construction contract for the Tottenham Court Road Crossrail station.
The news came as the CPA/Barbour ABI construction index fell slightly in June, from 116 last month to 115.

The index, compiled by the Construction Products Association (CPA) using data from construction information firm Barbour ABI, measures contract awards and uses a January 2010 base of 100.

Noble Francis, CPA economics director, said the 鈥渕arginal fall鈥� reflected the impact of the poor weather and the Diamond Jubilee bank holiday. 鈥淚f you exclude these effects then construction was broadly flat,鈥� he said.

The results emerged as the Office for National Statistics鈥� latest construction output figures showed construction output fell 6.3% in May compared with the previous year. The figures showed the main drag on output was the fall in new public sector work, which fell by about 22%, reflecting the ongoing impact of government spending cuts.

However, total output in May was up 6.2% on April鈥檚 low, which had seen output fall 8.5% on 2011 levels.