BALFOUR’S £2.5bn DEAL

BALFOUR Beatty shares rose more than 3pc yesterday after it won a slice of the HS2 construction work.

The infrastructure company’s shares rose 8.4p to 271.3p as the Government confirmed it would be involved in building tunnels and junctions for the railway’s northern section. Bosses said the two contracts won by the company’s joint venture with French construction firm Vinci were worth a total £2.5bn and would create thousands of jobs.

Work on the HS2 project is expected to begin in 2018 after detailed design work is finished.