Contractor wins £186m work in May to return to top of monthly league, as 2003/04 orders rise above £2bn
Big is beautiful. Bovis Lend Lease stamped its authority in the UK construction market with four juicy contract wins to extend its lead over Laing O'Rourke in the annual league to more than £700m.

The wins, which also meant Bovis snatched top spot for the monthly table, included a £70m shopping centre extension in Warrington, Cheshire, and a £40m health and housing development for Queen Mary University Hospital in London.

It won a £65m office scheme in the capital for client Scottish Widows – a project that was also good news for QS Northcroft. As a result of the contract, it rose three places in the QS league to seventh.

The top six QSs were identical to last month, with Davis Langdon and Gardiner & Theobald still on top as the only practices with more than £1bn of work.

These tables represent schemes within the specified time periods that have moved to main contract stage. They do not represent work currently being carried out by the listed consultants. To qualify, firms must have been identified on two or more projects fitting the following criteria in the past 12 months. Project must: be of precisely calculated or confirmed value; have reached the main contract stage; be valued at £1m or more; be in the UK. Residential, civils or overseas contracts are excluded. Student accommodation is included.