Morrison owner AWG, formerly Anglian Water, has restructured the Scottish group's international construction division to focus on servicing its own utility operations.
The move will see the division, which has a turnover of £20m, pull out of some of its areas of operation, such as eastern Europe and Africa, in favour of regions that AWG operates in.

AWG works in areas such as China, Chile, Brazil and the Czech Republic. The turnover from operation in these regions is about £180m.

Morrison has already set to work on a £140m water treatment facility in Beijing, a public-private partnership that AWG won as part of a joint venture with Mitsubishi.

AWG's international managing director Tony Eckford said the move would mean a closer alliance between Morrison and his company. He said: "The international group is focused on expanding areas where it has existing footprints, rather than taking a random shot across wide-ranging regions." Eckford added that Morrison would operate as a project manager in such schemes, rather than as a traditional contractor.

Morrison is also looking to work on projects for its Chile operation. AWG now runs Esval, the country's second-largest water utility. AWG is also looking at expanding operations in eastern European countries such as Poland and Hungary.

The move follows Morrison's shock £262m takeover by Anglian Water, now called AWG, last August. The deal aimed to produce an outsourcing giant, combining Anglian's water and outsourcing assets with Morrison's facilities management, property and PFI skills.

Morrison has since won a £325m, 10-year facilities management contract with North Lanarkshire council for 50,00 houses, school and libraries.

Since the deal, former Morrison sales director Gordon Morrison has become an executive director at AWG.