It rose to pole position largely on the strength of securing developer Landsec’s refurbishment and extension of London’s 1960s Portland House office tower block in Victoria.

CGI of Portland House revamp plan

According to data compiled by Barbour ABI, the total orders collected by the top 50 firms in July jumped by £1bn to £3.9bn, with 149 jobs secured, just over a quarter higher that June.

In the rolling 12-month league rankings, the guard changed with Mace ending Kier’s more than one year-long run at the top.

The firm was lifted by a £160m deal for the next phase of the Oxford Science Park expansion of the edge of the city.

This will involve building nearly 400,000 sq ft across three new laboratory and office buildings on Plots 23-26 of the site. Work set to be completed by early 2025.

Among the other big wins in July, McLaughlin and Harvey won the contract to build a new covered frigate building facility at the Govan shipyard in Strathclyde.

New frigate building shed on site of old wet dock

In London, Lendlease signed off the deal to deliver the 13-storey Aldermanbury Square office building for developer Great Portland Estates.

Aldermanbury Square offices

Also in London, Skanska secured a £100m office project to rebuild 7 Millbank in Westminster. The project involves dismantling the 9-storey building’s period façade so it can be restored and rebuilt, with newly built office behind.

7 Millbank rebuild project in Westminster

Wates also secured a £118m office projects at the Cambridge North Station emerging commercial quarter.