Laing O’Rourke topped August’s contractor league table after it signed the £850m deal for the St James Quarter project.

The firm had been lined up by TH Real Estate for the Edinburgh commercial development having undertaken enabling works, before finalising the main contractor agreement in August.

That sole contract was enough to send Laing O’Rourke to the league summit, according to construction intelligence provider Glenigan – the first time it has topped the monthly table since November 2015.

Bouygues took second for August with a £492.5m haul across eight projects. Underpinning this was £236m of work secured by Bouygues subsidiary Colas Rail on the extension of the Midlands Metro.

Galliford Try claimed third spot for the period with £293.9m spanning 11 deals, including a £175m regeneration scheme for Genesis Housing Association and Queens Park Rangers at Old Oak Common.

Fourth-placed McLaren owed its place primarily to a £155m distribution centre development for Roxhill & the London Distribution Park, while Skanska finalised another of the month’s stand-out deals: a £65m package at Great Ormond Street.

Top 10 contractors, year to Aug 2016

Contractor          No          Total (£m)

1              Bouygues            43           2486.5

2              Royal Bam           89           2389.4

3              Morgan Sindall  306         1845.1

4              Kier        294         1748.7

5              Laing O’Rourke 22           1734.3

6              Galliford Try       146         1726.0

7              Balfour Beatty   76           1621.7

8              Carillion                43           1402.6

9              Wates   127         1311.7

10           Mace     37           1152.6

League tables are subject to revision

Top 10 contractors, August 2016

Contractor          No          Total (£m)

1              Laing O’Rourke                 1              850.0

2              Bouygues            8              492.5

3              Galliford Try       11           293.9

4              McLaren              3              265.4

5              Lendlease           4              231.6

6              Balfour Beatty   5              181.1

7              Burmeister & Wain          1              160.0

8              Graham                6              124.5

9              VolkerWessels  11           122.6

10           Siemens Rail       1              105.0

League tables are subject to revision

Its strong month kept Bouygues at the top of the annual contractor league, despite second-placed Bam closing the gap.

Morgan Sindall climbed to third for the 12 months to August after Balfour Beatty slipped to seventh, while Kier was up two places to fourth.

Bowmer & Kirkland was a notable mover, gaining three spots to sit 14th, while Multiplex went one better in rising four places from 19th to 15th.