Carillion is rail client’s biggest single contractor, while Atkins leads the consultants’ table

Lafarge freight rail link in Kent

Carillion was Network Rail’s biggest single contractor last year, according to figures published by the railway infrastructure client.

Carillion won £281m worth of contracts from Network Rail over the 2013-14 financial year.

The next biggest contractor was Babcock Rail with whom Network Rail spent £220m over the period, followed by Bam Nuttall, which netted £209m.

Balfour Beatty was also a significant contractor, however, its position in the league table was undermined by the fact that it operates as three separate businesses when dealing with Network Rail.

Balfour Beatty Rail did £183m of work for the railway provider, while Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering did £89m and Balfour Beatty Rail Infrastructure Services did £86m.

When all these were taken together Balfour Beatty provided a total of £357m of construction work to Network Rail, technically putting it top of the contractors’ table.

Atkins was Network Rail’s largest construction consultancy supplier, winning £142m worth of work from the client.

The full spending league table published by Network Rail also contains non-construction suppliers, including electricity and signalling suppliers.

Network Rail supplier spending league table

Supplier nameSpendDescription of goods, services or product% of total
EDF Energy £341mElectricity supply 5%
Carillion Construction Ltd£281mInfrastructure contracting 4.1%
Babcock Rail Ltd£220mTrack infrastructure contracting 3.2%
BAM Nuttall Ltd£209mInfrastructure contracting 3%
Costain Ltd£203mInfrastructure contracting 3%
Balfour Beatty Rail Ltd£183mTrack infrastructure contracting 2.7%
Amey-Colas£182mTrack infrastructure contracting 2.7%
Siemens Rail Automation Ltd£177mSignalling infrastructure contracting 2.6%
Amalgamated Construction Ltd£160mInfrastructure contracting 2.3%
J Murphy & Sons Ltd£150mInfrastructure contracting 2.2%
Atkins Ltd£142mSignalling infrastructure contracting, consultancy services2.1%
Signalling Solutions Ltd£139mSignalling infrastructure contracting 2%
C Spencer Ltd£116mInfrastructure contracting 1.7%
Tata Steel UK Ltd£113mSteel manufacturer1.7%
VolkerFitzpatrick Ltd£105mInfrastructure contracting 1.6%
DB Schenker Rail (UK) Ltd£100mRail logistics 1.5%
Morgan Sindall Plc£100mConstruction services1.5%
Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Limited£89mInfrastructure contracting 1.3%
Balfour Beatty Rail Infrastructure Services Ltd£86mInfrastructure contracting 1.3%
Amey OWR Ltd£85mStructural inspection services 1.2%