Balfour Beatty

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Balfour Beatty plc (LSE: [BBY]) is a British based construction and civil engineering company based in central London. It is constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Balfour Beatty was founded in 1909 by George Balfour, a Scottish mechanical engineer, and Andrew Beatty, an English chartered accountant. They described the company as "general and electrical engineers, contractors, operating managers for tramways, railways and lighting properties and for the promoting of new enterprises" and soon it expanded into civil engineering. By the 1930s the company was operating internationally. In 1969 it was taken over by a manufacturer of electric cables called BICC, but in 2000 it became independent again.

Balfour Beatty now has four divisions:

Building, Building Management and Services
Civil and Specialist Engineering and Services
Rail Engineering and Services
Investments and Developments

Balfour Beatty undertakes projects around the world, but the majority of its turnover comes from the UK. Turnover for the year ended 31 December 2004 was £4.171 billion and profits before tax were £150 million.

In 2003 Balfour Beatty was convicted of manslaughter in connection with the Hatfield rail crash. It has also been strongly criticised for its involvement in the Ilisu Dam Project.

External links

[Official site]
[Yahoo profile]

References

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