HILLSBOROUGH firm Graham Construction has secured a £150 million contract with a London council to provide building work over the next five years.
The company has been appointed contractor by Barnet Council to handle major projects including new schools, leisure and community centres.
The work in Barnet - the most populated borough in London - will begin with two leisure centre schemes and school developments which have already been approved.
It is just the latest major contract for Graham Construction in Britain as it increases its scope across Ireland and the UK.
The company has an annual turnover of around half-a-billion pounds and employs 1,900 people.
Its most recent annual report showed a bulging pipeline of projects with an order book of £1.1 billion.
Operating profits last year were £7.1 million.
The firm made its first foray into England in 1985 but has actually been in existence for around 200 years.
The latest development has been described as a "milestone" for the firm's St Alban's office (one of 12 regional offices across Ireland and Britain).
Graham's director for the partnership Rod McMullan said: "The London Borough of Barnet framework focuses on quality, value, and cost certainty and we are confident that the knowledge and experience gained from our extensive ongoing education portfolio and inner-London projects such as the redevelopment of Kingsgate Primary School in the neighbouring borough of Camden, will ensure the council's capital projects pipeline is delivered on time and within budget."
Leader of Barnet Council Richard Cornelius added: "Barnet has a good track record of building major projects on time and on budget and this new partnership with Graham provides us further opportunity to deliver key buildings which will serve our residents for many years to come."
Meanwhile, the chief executive of the Construction Employers' Federation (CEF) John Armstrong, has said the challenges facing the industry in Northern Ireland "can be overcome".
He said the industry needed to reduce dependency on public sector spending and look towards the private sector.
And without a vibrant construction industry, the north's economy "is going nowhere" he added.
Speaking at a business breakfast organised by McCue Crafted Fit, he said: "Years of abnormally low tenders in the public sector has led to the demise of many companies in the sector and thus the loss of a significant amount of jobs.
“It is vital that we increase the amount of public and private sector operations in Northern Ireland as the current overly litigious environment isn’t doing companies any favours.
"Private sector investment in Northern Ireland has barely recovered since the downturn. We must also find the means to be more attractive to young people when it comes to choosing a career in construction.”
