Schools projects shielding Costain from recession woe

At a time of looming cutbacks in public-sector spending, contractor Costain finds itself in the sweet spot of building and renovating schools - seen as sacrosanct even under a Conservative administration.

Today it announced it had reached final agreement on a further part of the massive £250million Lewisham schoolbuilding project, which covers nine secondary schools and three special needs establishments in the borough. A host of other contracts bring its forward order book up to a record £2.4 billion -20% up on levels seen a year ago - including more than £900 million of work secured for this year.

In a trading statement accompanying news of the contracts, Costain said it was continuing to perform in line with expectations.

While many construction firms have struggled as businesses pare investment and the Government puts new infrastructure plans on hold, the so-called Building Schools for the Future contract is seen as copper-bottomed.