NEWSBRIEF

Bowmer & Kirkland appoints board director

Paul Lomas has been made a main board director at Bowmer & Kirkland. Currently he is director of two of the group's largest divisions: northern (turnover £60m) and London (turnover £58m). Lomas joined the group in 1979 as a quantity surveyor.

AMECBUYSIMA

Amec has bought IMA, a German process engineering design company, to strengthen its existing office in Basel, Switzerland. The base provides an integrated design, engineering and construction service to the buoyant pharmaceutical markets in Germany and Switzerland. IMA clients include Aventis Pharma, BASF and Bayer.

RINGWAY SEES PROFIT

Highway maintenance contractor Ringway's turnover of £150m (£110m) last year produced a pre-tax profit of £5.9m (£5.8m). It re-tendered and retained term maintenance contracts previously held in Gloucestershire, Cambridgeshire and Devonshire, the latter being won in a jv with Colas. Ringway has added new contracts in Suffolk, Wiltshire and Kent.

Wescol's profit dips

Wescol's interim pre-tax profit (six months to 31 January 2000) slipped to £1.2m (£1.9m) despite a 40% rise in turnover to £46m. Alan Walker, managing director, said tender price levels were unacceptably low, adding that as there was not a shortage of work, there was no reason for the cut-throat competition in the market.

BALFOURBEATTY GETSUSRAILFIRMS

Balfour Beatty has paid £31m for two US rail trackwork companies, Marta Track Constructors and Metroplex Corporation. It total, the two had a turnover of £25m in 1999, producing a £4m profit. The US rail market is the largest in the world, with a total spend of £6bn a year on projects and a further £4bn on infrastructure.