Royal Bam claims chief spot among Yorkshire builders

Royal Bam’s activities in Yorkshire generated turnover of £242.1m in the year to March with 17 deals.

The Dutch company’s performance placed it ahead of Interserve at £229.1m and Wates at £147.5m, according to construction data specialist Glenigan.

Royal Bam is responsible for the ultra-modern Leeds Arena, the delicate restoration of the City Varieties Music Hall, and various schools, hospitals and offices in Yorkshire, including the £19m development in York for global insurer Hiscox.

James Wimpenny, regional director for BAM in the North East, said: “These are not our own figures of course, but they are compiled on an even-handed basis by a specialist and they give a sense of how the market is performing at a given point in time.

“To be top of the table is nevertheless a fitting tribute to the attitude BAM brings to its work, and to our people around our projects.”

Tom Crane, economist at Glenigan, provided an insight into the state of the construction industry in Yorkshire.

He told The Yorkshire Post: “The past 12 months has seen the major players operating in Yorkshire and the Humber building up their order books and breaking ground on greater numbers of schemes.

“The value of projects starting on site in the first quarter of 2015 was 12 per cent higher than a year earlier, even as starts flat lined across the UK as a whole.

“The office, retail and private housing sectors are all recent hotspots.”

Glenigan league tables are produced from comprehensive UK construction activity data.

The company monitors every planning application and decision, plus thousands of projects that do not require planning.