More Focus – Page 531

  • Features

    Services whole-life costs Heating

    2000-07-28T00:00:00Z

    The fourth in this series on the lifespan costs of engineering services compares four heating systems.

  • Features

    The top 100

    2000-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Welcome to Building's largest-ever assessment of the top contractors and housebuilders in the UK. This year, we have made a few key changes to our usual format.

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    Top 100 contractors and housebuilders by turnover

    2000-07-28T00:00:00Z

    UK construction had a boom year in 1999, with the top 100 companies turning over more than £43bn. Total pre-tax profit was almost £2.2bn and the average margin was 4.9%. The top 50 companies – which account for 85% of turnover and pre-tax profit in the top 100 – enjoyed ...

  • Features

    Top 75 contractors by contracting turnover

    2000-07-28T00:00:00Z

    In this table, we have ranked firms by the amount of contracting they do. Figures for non-contracting activities, including property, housebuilding and facilities management (which makes up much of the "other" column), are also shown. Just edging into the top spot is Bovis, which handled £2.3bn of contracting – 60% ...

  • Features

    Top 75 contractors by contracting operating profit

    2000-07-28T00:00:00Z

    This table is intended to show the profit companies are making from building. Balfour Beatty tops the stakes here with £96m, although its figures are boosted by the fact that all of its activities – including considerable facilities management work for its private finance initiative contracts – are included under ...

  • Features

    Top 75 contractors by contracting operating margin

    2000-07-28T00:00:00Z

    This table tells two main stories. First, that the large specialists still make the fattest margins. Steel constructor Severfield-Rowen reported 6.4% and groundwork specialist Keller got a handsome 6.2%. East Anglian contractor Carter also made an impressive 4.4% return, and concrete firm O'Rourke managed 3.6%. Second, it shows that most ...

  • Features

    Top 25 contractors in FM by FM turnover

    2000-07-28T00:00:00Z

    This table was drawn up in recognition of the large number of contractors carrying out infrastructure maintenance and management in the quest for longer-term income streams and better margins.The top of the table is dominated by companies better known as big builders. Amec comes top, with a turnover of £850m, ...

  • Features

    Top 25 housebuilders by housing turnover

    2000-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Please see table

  • Features

    Top 25 housebuilders by housing operating profit

    2000-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Please see table

  • Features

    Top 25 housebuilders by housing operating margins

    2000-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Last year was a good time to be a housebuilder. And it was the country's two remaining volume housebuilders – Barratt and Wimpey – that dominated in terms of turnover and profit. However, when it comes to margins, they trailed the pack in 16th and 24th place respectively. Smaller rivals, ...

  • Features

    Contractors and housebuilders by employees' average pay

    2000-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Fit-out and construction management firm Interior Services Group was a lucrative place to work for most employees last year. Earlier this month, it announced pre-tax profit up 91% to £4.2m on a slightly reduced turnover of £370m. The company actually paid its staff less than it did in 1998, but ...

  • Features

    Contractors and housebuilders by remuneration of highest paid director

    2000-07-28T00:00:00Z

    Whereas staffers saw their pay rise 6.2% on average last year, the bosses enjoyed 15.7% increases. Top of the rich list and way ahead of the competition was Bowmer & Kirkland's highest-paid director, who took home £1.6m, including bonus. Housebuilding bosses got some of the biggest rises. Prowting's highest-earning director ...

  • Features

    Hands up if you want to be a builder

    2000-07-21T00:00:00Z

    How do you attract the pupils of a 97% Asian school in Birmingham into construction? In the second of our recruitment specials, industry figures face the challenge of recruiting ethnic minorities.

  • Features

    Michael Dickson

    2000-07-21T00:00:00Z

    The Construction Industry Council's new chairman is diffident about his achievements, but his years with Buro Happold and his infectious enthusiasm for the industry make him the right man to lead the umbrella group's focus on design and urban renaissance.

  • Features

    Treasure islands

    2000-07-21T00:00:00Z

    The Caribbean is the place to work, according to Hays Montrose s guide to salaries worldwide. But if it s not your idea of paradise, the guide also lists pay and perks in nine other locations.

  • Features

    Support act

    2000-07-21T00:00:00Z

    From rock-and-roll extravaganzas to awesome military displays in Horse Guards Parade, ESS modular stage system has toured the world and mingled with the stars.

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    Home shopping

    2000-07-21T00:00:00Z

    Berkeley Homes has brought housebuying into the Internet age with a slick advertising campaign and a shiny new web site. But does it actually help house-hunters?

  • Features

    Careful what you ask for

    2000-07-21T00:00:00Z

    When the Lowry Centre tried to escape the clutches of the Construction Act by backdating the contract, the adjudicator refused to go away. One party cannot rob another of its statutory right to adjudication.

  • Features

    Where the buck stops now

    2000-07-21T00:00:00Z

    A recent Court of Appeal decision seemed to relieve designers of a great deal of responsibility for safety. The HSE responded by changing the regulations to reimpose that duty. What do the new rules say?

  • Features

    Certifiable consultants

    2000-07-21T00:00:00Z

    If you get the job of independent certifier on a PFI project (and the liabilities can be scary enough to put consultants off) how much checking do you actually have to do?