Balfour Beatty

Infobox Company
company_name = Balfour Beatty plc
company_
company_type = Public (lse|BBY)
foundation = 1909 by George Balfour and Andrew Beattycite web
url = http://www.balfourbeatty.com/bbeatty/aboutus/keyfacts/
title = Key Facts
author = Balfour Beatty
accessdate = 2007-03-23 ]
location = London, United Kingdom
key_people = Steve Marshall, Chairman,
Ian Tyler, Chief Executive
industry = Construction, Civil engineering
products =
revenue = £7,488 million (2007)cite web
url = http://www.balfourbeatty.com/bby/media/press/2008/2008-03-05/
title = Preliminary results for the year to 31 December 2007
author = Balfour Beatty
format = PDF
date = 7 March 2008
accessdate = 2008-03-07 ]
operating_income = £201 million (2007)
net_income = £151 million (2007)
num_employees = 30,000
parent =
subsid = Numerous
homepage = [http://www.balfourbeatty.com www.balfourbeatty.com]
slogan = The creation and care of essential assets
footnotes =

Balfour Beatty plc (lse|BBY) is a London-based construction, civil engineering and rail services company. It is one of the largest construction companies in the UK, and the 15th largest in the world. [cite web
url = http://www.digitallook.com/cgi-bin/dlmedia/security.cgi?username=&ac=&csi=10122
title = Balfour Beatty
author = Digital Look
accessdate = 2007-03-23] It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Balfour Beatty undertakes projects around the world, but the majority of its turnover comes from the UK. Turnover for the year ended 31 December 2007 was £7,488 million and profits before tax were £157 million.

History

Balfour Beatty was founded in 1909 by George Balfour, a Scottish mechanical engineer, and Andrew Beatty, an English chartered accountant. They described the company as "general and electrical engineers, contractors, operating managers for tramways, railways and lighting properties and for the promoting of new enterprises" and soon it expanded into civil engineering. In 1922 George Balfour and Andrew Beatty established Power Securities to develop and fund hydro-electric projects. By the 1930s the business was operating internationally.

In 1969 Power Securities, which by then owned Balfour Beatty, was taken over by cable manufacturer BICC. [ [http://www.actuaries.org.uk/files/pdf/library/TFA-032/0243-0246.pdf Notes on Financial Times Actuaries Index 1969] ]

In 2000 BICC, having sold its cable operations, renamed itself Balfour Beatty. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19990819/ai_n14251973 Shake-up will see BICC change to Balfour Beatty] ]

In 2003 Balfour Beatty acquired Mansell plc, another construction services business, for £42m. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-110377716.html Balfour Beatty set to buy Mansell] ]

In 2006 Balfour Beatty acquired Birse plc, a UK construction & Civils contractor, for £32 m. [http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=284&storycode=3071932 BB buys Birse for £32m]

In 2007 Balfour Beatty acquired Centex Construction, the commercial construction division of the US builder Centex, for £180m. [ [http://www.contractjournal.com/Articles/2007/02/01/53489/balfour-beatty-pays-180m-for-us-builder-centex-construction.html Balfour Beatty pays £180 for US builder] ]

In 2007 Balfour Beatty acquired Cowlin Construction, a UK construction company based in Bristol. [cite web |url=http://www.cowlin.co.uk/about.html |title=About us |work=Cowlin Construction |accessdate=2008-07-06]

In 2008 Balfour Beatty acquired GMH Military Housing, a US-based military accommodation business, for £180m. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/02/13/cngmh113.xml Balfour Beatty targets $350m US military deal] ]

In 2008 Balfour Beatty acquired Dean & Dyball, a leading UK regional contractor, for £45 million. [ [http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=3109227 Balfour Beatty buys Dean & Dyball for £45m] ]

Hatfield Rail Crash

Balfour Beatty were held partly responsible for the Hatfield rail crash which killed 4 people and injured 102 in the year 2000. The cause of the crash was a broken rail, which was identified 21 months before the crash, but hadn't been fixed. Balfour Beatty were fined £7.5 million. In 1999 it was fined £1.2m, a record penalty at the time, over the collapse of a tunnel during construction work at Heathrow Airport. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2005/oct/08/balfourbeattybusiness.hatfieldtraincrash Hatfield victims and unions call for new corporate killing law] ]

Operations

Balfour Beatty has four business streams:
*Building, Building Management and Services
*Civil and Specialist Engineering and Services
*Rail Engineering and Services
*Investments and Developments

The company is a 50% shareholder in Gammon Construction, based in Hong Kong.

Major projects

Projects involving Balfour Beatty include:

*The Kielder Dam, Northumberland, 1982 [ [http://sine.ncl.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=3544 Structure information] ]
*The Docklands Light Railway in London, 1985Docklands Light Railway Official Handbook, Stephen Jolly and Bob Bayman (1986) ISBN 0 904711 80 3]
*Large parts of the M25 motorway around London, 1986 [ [http://www.iht.org/motorway/m25papers7.htm Motorway Archive - M25] ]
*The Channel Tunnel, 1994 [ [http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0000334 Channel Tunnel on Structurae database] ]
*The Cardiff Bay Barrage, 1999 [ [http://www.newswales.co.uk/index.php?section=Environment&F=1&id=1204 Cardiff Bay Barrage Report] ]
*The Lesotho Highlands Water Project, 2002 [ [http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/item.shtml?x=52182#appendix-01-01-00-00 Corner House] ]
*Nam Cheong Station, Hong Kong, 2003 [ [http://www.epd.gov.hk/eia/operation/english/appendix03_5.html Government of Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department] ]
*The Pergau Dam hydroelectric project in Malaysia, 2003 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/288183.stm Turkish Dam gets UK Support] ]
*The M6 Toll, 2003 [ [http://www.iht.org/motorway/m6toll.htm Motorway Archive - M6 Toll] ]
*University College London Hospital, 2005 [ [http://www.uclh.nhs.uk/News/2002/May/ University College London Hospital wins award] ]
*Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Bridge, Connecticut, U.S.A., 2006 [ [http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19046524&BRD=1347&PAG=461&dept_id=432990&rfi=6 New bridge wins praise] ]
*Burj Mall, Dubai, 2008 [ [http://www.balfourbeatty.com/bby/markets/retail/burjmall/ Balfour Beatty website: Burj Mall Dubai] ]
*The Birmingham Super Hospital near Selly Oak, Birmingham due to complete in 2011 [ [http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/tm_method=full&objectid=16644724&siteid=50002-name_page.html Long winding road to new super-hospital] ]

*The A3 Hindhead Tunnel due to complete in 2011. [ [http://www.tunnels.mottmac.com/projects/?id=3402&mode=type Mott McDonald] ]

Non-construction related activities

Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions

A division of Balfour Beatty, the company was formed in November 2007 following the merger of Balfour Beatty Utilities with Balfour Beatty Power Networks. The enlarged company has over 5,200 employees and is one of the UK's largest utilities engineering companies with contracts with some of the biggest utilities companies in the UK. [ [http://www.BBUSL.com/ Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions] Web home page]

Haden Young

A division of Beatty, "Haden Young Limited " is one of the UK's largest mechanical and electrical (M&E) services contractors with an annual turnover of around £200 million. The company, founded in 1816 by George Haden, focuses on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC), electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and information technology design, construction and commissioning. [ [http://www.hadenyoung.co.uk/ Haden Young] Web home page]

See also

* Jarvis PLC
* WS Atkins PLC

References

External links

* [http://www.balfourbeatty.com/ Official site]
* [http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=BBY.L Yahoo profile]