Balfour Beatty commits £1bn to support SMEs

This spend,  the largest ever by a UK construction company, will contribute to supporting around 200,000 jobs within smaller businesses across the UK, 50,000 more than in 2013.

Balfour Beatty’s small and local supply chain partners in Reading have received approximately £13m of investment this year.

One such supplier is J Mould, who supply recycled aggregates and bulk excavation waste disposal services for the project. Through J Mould’s local processing plant, recycling technologies and local waste recycling routes, Balfour Beatty has been able to achieve its zero waste to landfill target, using a large percentage of locally sourced recycled materials which has minimised the carbon footprint of waste disposal and aggregate delivery requirements on the longest concrete viaduct project ever constructed in the UK.

Eric Howell, General Manager at J Mould said:

“As a local company we were able to help Balfour Beatty to achieve its target of lowering carbon emissions and achieving zero waste to landfill on this project. As an SME we are very pleased to be working for a contractor which is committed to sustainability and we look forward to continuing to help them deliver it.”

Alok Sharma, MP for Reading West, added:

“I am very pleased that a significant amount of the funding which Balfour Beatty is receiving from the government to build projects in Reading is being spent with Reading based small and medium sized businesses. SMEs are the lifeblood of our economy and need all the support we can offer.”

Martin Chown, Balfour Beatty Director of Supply Chain and Procurement, commented:

“Investing in smaller businesses is a win-win all round as not only do they provide local jobs, apprenticeships, training and opportunities, but they help us to deliver projects sustainably for our customers, drive innovation and deliver value.”