Balfour Beatty has won a £40m job to build support facilities for Bristow Helicopters’ search and rescue service

Helicopter hangar - Balfour Beatty

Bristow said the contract, worth in excess of £40m, would see the firm work on projects at nine sites across the UK between 2014 and 2017, including the construction of seven new build search and rescue (SAR) helicopter bases at commercial airports in Inverness, Manston, Prestwick, Caernarfon, St Athan, Humberside and Newquay, and the refurbishment of an existing facility in Stornoway.

The ninth SAR helicopter base, which will be used by Bristow to deliver the contract is an existing Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) facility at Lee-on-Solent and a final tenth base shall be an existing Bristow facility at Sumburgh.

Bristow Helicopters was awarded the ten-year UK Search and Rescue contract by the Department for Transport in March 2013 and is due to take over the service on behalf of the MCA from April 2015.

Construction is due to commence in early 2014 with developments continuing until early 2017.