Costain plans major recruitment hunt

Costain is set to begin a huge recruitment drive which chief executive Andrew Wyllie hopes will see at least 200 extra people join the business within a year.

The £1bn turnover contractor will release its latest interim results in two weeks' time, when it is expected to show increased profits and turnover.

The firm has already said its orderbook has grown 20% on last year to £2.4bn, but Wyllie told Contract Journal it was now turning work away because of staffing issues.

He said: "We have still got more opportunities than resources to bid. We are still turning down opportunities. The business is going to be taking on hundreds of new people over the next 12 months."

Costain is after site-based staff including engineers, project managers and directors, design managers, along with health, safety and environmental teams.

The firm, which last year employed close to 4,000 people, with nearly half of these at its civil engineering business, has won a series of jobs in the waste sector, including a £400m deal in Greater Manchester, nuclear work at Sellafield in Cumbria,plus highways and rail jobs including Crossrail.

Wyllie added: "We are tending to focus our efforts on the activities where we think spend will take place. Energy is a big issue in the UK and there is a much more integrated plan for it whichever political party is in power."

Wyllie, who celebrates four years in the role next month after switching from Taylor Woodrow to replace former boss Stuart Doughty, said he believes this latest recruitment push will benefit from the firm's stated aim to become a top 5 contractor. He added: "It helps when recruiting to be able to say 'you will be working for one of the best companies in the sector'."