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Balfour Beatty Welcomes Spending Review 2000 And 10-Year Transport Plan

The 10-year plan for investment in rail systems, road building, road maintenance and the introduction of whole-life costing to the public spending process will benefit the economy, the public and those companies whose business is the development of efficient, quality infrastructure.

Commenting on the plan, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Mike Welton, said today:

“It is clearly vital that this country’s transport infrastructure is developed to meet the needs of the 21st century. We welcome the planned increase in investment in clearing rail and road bottlenecks, developing urban public transport systems and radically increasing expenditure on road maintenance.

“In addition, as the UK’s largest rail engineering and services contractor, a leader in privately financed projects and a market leader in road construction and road maintenance, Balfour Beatty can expect to continue to play an integral role in assisting the Government meet key transport policy objectives as well as supporting the effective implementation of the 10-year plan.

“We also thoroughly support the introduction of a system which will emphasise whole-life costing of Government-funded infrastructure projects, rather than the up-front build cost.”

Balfour Beatty is the UK’s largest rail maintenance company, with some 25% of the UK market under management. It is also working on a number of major rail engineering projects, including the £170 million remodelling of the rail infrastructure between Euston Station and Willesden Junction and the £400 million+ electrification of the West Coast Main Line.

Through its successful involvement in the Private Finance Initiative, where it has three hospitals, three roads, two power projects and a water scheme in hand, it has developed sophisticated whole-life costing skills which are applicable to the creation and management of capital assets of all types.

Metronet, the consortium of which Balfour Beatty is part, has been shortlisted for one of the deep tunnel franchises available through London Underground’s Public Private Partnership and has prequalified for the sub-surface lines.

Balfour Beatty’s substantial road management and maintenance business is responsible for maintenance in two of the Highways Agency Areas and a number of local authorities in the South of England. Balfour Beatty is a leading road construction contractor, with many of the UK’s largest and most complex road building and road widening schemes to its credit.

ENDS

Enquiries to:

Tim Sharp
Balfour Beatty plc
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7629 6622

NOTES TO EDITORS:-

1. Balfour Beatty is a £2.5 billion turnover international engineering, construction and services group with four principal business areas (Building, Building Management and Services; Civil and Specialist Engineering and Services; Rail Engineering and Services; and Investments and Developments). It is an international leader in the provision of engineering, construction and service skills to customers for whom infrastructure quality, reliability and efficiency are critical.

2. PFI

Balfour Beatty was amongst the first and is one of the most successful entrants into the privately financed infrastructure market. It has 11 concessions under the UK Government’s Private Finance Initiative. In roads, the A1/M1 Link in Yorkshire, the A50 in Derbyshire and the A30/A35 in Devon and Dorset are all completed and in full operation. In the healthcare sector, Balfour Beatty has two projects under construction – the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Medical School and the North Durham Hospital at Dryburn – and the University College London Hospital, which reached financial close on 12 July. In the power sector, Balfour Beatty is responsible for the maintenance, operation and development of London Underground’s high-voltage power distribution system and has recently commissioned a waste-to-energy power station in Dundee. In education, the company is preferred bidder for the maintenance of Stoke area schools.

The UK Government estimates that some £20 billion worth of PFI deals will be signed over the next three years.

3. Rail

Balfour Beatty is the UK’s largest and most versatile rail engineering and services company. The company, with a turnover of approaching £400 million, has expertise which ranges from high-speed rail to mass transit and includes trackwork, overhead and third rail electrification, signalling, power supply systems, switches and crossings and rail-related civil engineering. The company, which has project experience around the world, recently acquired two leading US trackwork specialists. Investment in the world’s rail infrastructure is growing rapidly under the influence of rapid traffic growth, the development of mass transit systems, rail utility restructuring and the increasing involvement of the private sector.