Balfour wins £144m M25 contract

Balfour Beatty has sealed the £144m M25 widening (junctions 12-15) and T5 Spur Road contract.

The award follows a three-month delay in awarding the contract by the Highways Agency (HA) due to what it labelled as the "sensitivities" of working with a second client in the form of BAA.

Balfour was chosen from a list of Skanska, Mowlem, Alfred McAlpine/Amec and Nuttall/Carillion.

Industry rumours were flying last month that Balfour had failed the HA's price test where contractors' bids over or below the averaged 15% threshold are ruled out, but a Balfour source has dismissed the allegations