Balfour Beatty

Balfour Beatty plc
FormerlyBICC Public Limited Company (1945–2000)[1]
Company typePublic limited company
LSE: BBY
FTSE 250 component
ISINGB0000961622 Edit this on Wikidata
Industry
  • Infrastructure professional services
  • Construction services
  • Support services
  • Infrastructure investments
Founded1909
Founders
HeadquartersLondon, England
Key people
RevenueIncrease £9,595 million (2023)[2]
Increase £175 million (2023)[2]
Decrease £194 million (2023)[2]
Number of employees
26,000 (2024)[3]
Websitebalfourbeatty.com

Balfour Beatty plc (/ˌbælfʊ ˈbiːtiː/) is an international infrastructure group based in the United Kingdom with capabilities in construction services, support services and infrastructure investments. A constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, the company is active across the UK, US and Hong Kong. In terms of turnover, Balfour Beatty was ranked in 2021 as the biggest construction contractor in the United Kingdom.[4]

It was formed on 12 January 1909 by the engineer George Balfour and the accountant Andrew Beatty. Initially working on tramways, the company soon expanded into power and general contracting; the First World War saw it construct several army bases and various other works to support the British war effort. During the 1920s and 1930s, Balfour Beatty reoriented away from bus and tramway operations towards more lucrative heavy civil engineering, particularly the development of Britain's National Grid and various power stations. Early international projects include hydro electric power schemes in the Dolomites, Malaya and India, power stations in Argentina and Uruguay, and the Kut Barrage on the Tigris in Iraq. During the Second World War, the company's construction efforts were dominated by the war effort, including blocking the approaches to Scapa Flow and the building of six Mulberry harbour units.

For a time, Balfour Beatty's activities were dominated by two domestic sectors: power stations and the railways. It also opted to develop its presence as contractor within various power and civil engineering projects. Throughout the 1970s, Balfour Beatty expanded its presence in the road construction sector through schemes such as the M73 motorway and the Glasgow Inner Ring Road. Between 1986 and 1995, Balfour Beatty operated Balfour Beatty Homes; after a collapse of the housing market, Balfour Beatty Homes was renamed Clarke Homes and then sold to Westbury. During the 2000s, the company's business strategy diversified from the construction of infrastructure alone towards the financing, operation, design and management functions. Balfour Beatty also pursued a strategy of growth via acquisition, primarily in the United Kingdom and North America, including Mansell plc, Birse Group, Rok plc, Centex Construction, Parsons Brinckerhoff, and Howard S. Wright.

During the 2010s, several instances of legal action was taken against the company for its alleged use of blacklists.[5][6][7] In 2014, Balfour Beatty rebuffed three offers by Carillion, its primary British-based rival at that time, to purchase the company. Throughout the 2010s and 2020s, Balfour Beatty has been heavily involved in several major railway projects in Britain, including High Speed 2, Crossrail, and the modernisation of the Great Western Main Line. In October 2005, Balfour Beatty was found guilty of breaching health and safety laws, and were fined £10 million for its involvement in the October 2000 Hatfield rail crash.

  1. ^ "Balfour Beatty plc overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Balfour Beatty. "Results for the year ended 31 December 2023" (PDF). Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Understanding Balfour Beatty". Balfour Beatty. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Top 100 Construction Companies 2021". Construction Index. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Construction blacklist was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Evans, Rob (20 January 2010). "Trade Unionist sues Balfour Beatty". Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC-2014Jul4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).