Balfour Beatty tells 12,000 staff their jobs are at risk

The building giant said it was consultating with all staff about its restructuring plans. It said it “currently envisaged” that the “two thirds” of the workforce delivering infrastructure projects such as Cross Rail would be unaffected. “To align the resources of Balfour Beatty’s Construction Services UK business to current and future market conditions, a consultation period has commenced with its employees,” a spokesman said. “There’s a possibility that there may be some redundancies.” The division generates £3.5bn in sales – more than a third of the group’s total turnover – and includes contractors Mansell, Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering, Balfour Beatty Engineering Services and Balfour Beatty Construction. The global construction division’s profit margins fell to 2.4pc in the 2011 from 3pc and Balfour said it expected them to fall further. In the UK, it blamed reduced public spending and low levels of commercial property development.