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Balfour Beatty is the largest building and civil contractor operating in Scotland with sales in excess of œ150 million.

Current major projects include the œ40 million M8 extension and the œ36 million extension at Glasgow Airport. Balfour Beatty is optimistic in the longer term that any reduced public expenditure on roads, water, and health in Scotland could be adequately compensated for by the advent of the Government's recently announced Private Finance Initiative (PFI).

Balfour Beatty, because of its corporate financial strength and diversity of operations, is well placed to pursue these new opportunities in the various sectors. However, one area of real concern is the fact that these PFI schemes will, due to the complexities of funding, almost inevitably require a substantial lead-in period before they actually reach site.

The problem for the construction industry in 1995 and into 1996 is that there could be a substantial decrease in the number of site starts. This shortfall in workload is bound to affect everyone, including suppliers and sub-contractors.

Any positive statement about the improving state of the economy in 1995 should therefore be viewed with extreme caution. The reality, in the short term at least, is that there is going to be another tough year ahead for construction in Scotland. Alistair Wivell, managing director BALFOUR BEATTY