Carbon capture contract powers United Living to top league spot

A major carbon capture pipeline job saw utilities and property services contractor United Living top the latest Construction News monthly league table.

Data from Glenigan showed that the £627m-turnover firm picked up a £250m contract from  Liverpool Bay CCS Ltd, a subsidiary of global energy firm Eni, to help deliver carbon dioxide transportation and storage infrastructure as part of the HyNet North West decarbonisation scheme.

This was only the second time that United Living led the monthly table, with it last hitting the top in February last year.

Skanska took the silver medal in April with a pair of civils jobs worth a combined £193.3m. These included a share of a £400m contract from Anglian Water for a waste treatment plant in Cambridge alongside Mott MacDonald and MWH, according to Glenigan.

That job saw Mott MacDonald and MWH enter the table in equal fourth place at £133.3m each.

Elsewhere in April’s top 10, the Glenigan data revealed McLaren in third spot with £173.1m of work from four jobs, including a £120m contract to refit the Grade II-listed Barkers of Kensington building in west London.

Fifth-placed Wates won three jobs with a combined value of £114.6m – mainly due to a £110.6m deal to repair Parliament’s crumbling Victoria Tower.

Bowmer & Kirkland finished sixth in April’s table with four contracts worth a total of £112.2m. These included a £58.5m deal to deliver the Fabrica research hub in Oxford.

Seventh-placed Vistry won two jobs worth a combined £100.1m, ahead of Willmott Dixon with half a dozen deals worth a combined £88.2m.

April’s top 10 was rounded off by McAleer & Rushe with a single £79m contract, and Kier with 11 jobs worth a total of £75.4m.

Kier was one of three survivors from March’s top 10, alongside McLaren and Bowmer & Kirkland.

The rolling annual league table saw fewer convulsions after a big shake-up in March.

Kier remained in top spot with £3.09bn worth of work from 115 jobs, including £2.43bn of building contracts.

Morgan Sindall and Royal Bam swapped positions in April, with the former winning work worth £2.3bn from 268 jobs since May 2024, and the latter taking 51 contracts worth a combined £2.18bn.

Mace stayed in fourth with £1.75bn worth of work from 17 contracts, ahead of Ferrovial which has won £1.63bn from just four civils jobs.

The UK’s biggest contractor, Balfour Beatty, was the only new entrant in the rolling annual table, taking ninth place with 53 jobs worth a combined £1.29bn.