National contractors make hay in Wales

National contractors are picking up the bulk of the work in Wales, where a plethora of major projects are helping to push up starts. According to Glenigan’s data, the underlying value of project starts in Wales rose 13% in 2016. This does not include projects valued at £100 million or more and a number of major schemes are progressing. Major Welsh projects on site range from the £350 million Llanfrechfa Grange Hospital project in Cwmbran to a £135 million redevelopment at Cardiff University, an £85 million extension of Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil and an £80 million scheme to dual the A40 between St Clears and Haverfordwest. Laing O’Rourke is the contractor at Llanfrechfa Grange and has the biggest market share in Wales. The group won £368 million-worth of contracts in the 12 months to Q1 2017 and is top of Glenigan’s ranking of the 10 leading contractors in the principality. Kier, the contractor at Cardiff University, is ranked second and has won the largest amount of individual contracts, securing 18 deals valued at £250,000 of more. The total value of this order book was £248.2 million. With major projects moving on site, the aggregate order book at the top 10 contractors rose to £1.5 billion compared to £837.1 million in the 12 months to Q1 2016. National contractors such as Laing O’Rourke and Kier are benefitting most and the only two indigenous Welsh contractors in Glenigan’s top 10 for Wales are Alun Griffiths, ranked seventh and C Wynne in tenth. Both companies have though seen an increase in contracts won. At Alun Griffiths, orders swelled £118.0 million (Q1 2016: £64.6 million) and at C Wynne the order book has leapt to £61.3million (Q1 2016: £39.8 million). To put these increases in perspective, over the same period Kier’s order book in Wales has reached £248.2 million (Q1 2016: £133.3 million), while at third ranked Willmott Dixon the order book is up to £151.8 million (Q1 2016: £107.4 million). Part of the reason for this increase is the influence of major schemes, which are typically awarded to national companies, but Welsh contractors should benefit from smaller jobs coming through framework agreements, particularly in the civil engineering sector. At the start of the summer, Natural Resources Wales appointed a swathe of contractors – mostly all from Wales - to a £25 million civil engineering framework. In the new North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agency (NRTA) framework, which will see spending of around £60 million over the next four years, the big winners were Welsh contractors Alun Griffiths, Dawnus, JN Bentley and Ruthin-based Jones Bros. This quartet were named on the section for major projects but the framework also saw a number of local firms appointed to lots for smaller projects, which should help underlying starts rise again in the principality in 2017.