Mowlem scales the peaks

Mowlem has climbed to the summit of the CJ50 for September after being awarded an early contractor involvement scheme by the Highways Agency in the Peak District.
The £91m road will bypass the north Derbyshire villages of Mottram, Holingworth and Tintwistle on the A57/A628 in the High Peaks. It will present Mowlem with several big civil engineering challenges along its 5.7km route, including a 200m-long tunnel, 14 structures and climbing lanes. Also included in the deal are modifications to existing junctions on the A628 and A616.
Mowlem held off competition from four other major challengers - Amec, Carillion, Costain and Alfred McAlpine - to land the deal. Work is expected to start in 2006, with completion due in 84 months.
Mowlem has also been appointed by Spanish-owned Amey to build two law courts in Bristol in a PFI deal worth £40m. The contract also includes constructing office space for Avon & Somerset Probation Service at Marlborough Street in the centre of Bristol, plus a new bus station and 323 new key worker housing units.
Laing O'Rourke recorded yet another second place finish, and moves up two places in the overall table to fourth. The firm confirmed it has been appointed by Equion to build the £100m privately-financed acute hospital for the University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust in Stoke-on-Trent. Equion was awarded the contract a year ago after just three companies expressed interest in the job.
Laing also took two big housing deals, one a mixed-use residential and commercial scheme worth £50m from Wilson Bowden in Norwich, the other from Redrow Homes in Cardiff, valued at £32.5. To cap a fine month, the contractor also picked up a £19m job from Brunel University to build student accommodation.
Third-placed Balfour Beatty is the latest contractor awash with water work from AMP4, taking a £60m deal from Severn Trent Water. Balfour also won a £45m contract from developer Ham-merson to build a new shopping centre in Gloucester, plus a £12m housing deal from housing association Places for People in London.
Fourth place went to Carillion, which has passed the £1bn mark in new orders for 2004. Carillion chalked up a string of housing jobs, the biggest valued at £36m from Wimpey in central London, plus a £33.6m job from ING Real Estates in Manchester and an £18.7m apartment development from City Lofts at Princes Dock in Liverpool. The contractor also picked up an £11.7m supermarket job from Asda in London.
Rydon produced one of its best ever CJ50 months to take fifth, thanks to two major health deals. A specialist in mental health care facilities, Rydon closed a £64.3m privately financed deal to build five mental health units in and around Bristol for Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. The contractor also won a £15m deal to build primary care facilities though Redbridge & Waltham Forest's LIFT programme.
Kier took sixth spot with another impressive haul of contracts - 59, second only to Balfour Beatty's 64 - while Morgan Sindall recorded another strong month of social housing business, and is now £100m clear of its nearest challenger in the social housing sector table.
Bowmer & Kirkland maintained its consistent showing for 2004, with just shy of £50m-worth of new work, and Eric Wright made a rare appearance in the top 10, its biggest win of the month a £19m shopping development from Cobbetts House in Manchester.
Outside the top 10, there were notable contract wins for: Norwest Holst, a £26m distribution centre for Sports World International in Derbyshire; an £18m deal for Miller to build health centres in Leeds through the Leeds NHS LIFT programme; and a £10m fit-out job for Warings through its framework arrangement with BAA.
Overall, orders were up slightly on August, but just below September 2003, with all sectors performing broadly in line with the 12-month average.
The table for the year to date is still headed by Bovis Lend Lease, though Balfour Beatty is closing the gap. The most notable change was month winner Mowlem's jump six places up to sixth. o