Kier’s move follows the recent restructure of Balfour Beatty and local office closures by Morgan Sindall in response to continuing economic uncertainty and delay in recovery.
A statement from Kier said: “We are experiencing a good level of bidding activity across the group, however today's trading environment remains difficult with little sign of improvement in the UK construction market. In light of this we are conducting a further review of our construction operations to ensure we remain as efficient as possible.”
The board said that the construction division had maintained its position in a challenging market, having secured more than £400m of new work since 1 July 2012, much of it from frameworks.
Growth areas are UK infrastructure and overseas work, where bidding levels have increased.
The order book of secured and probable work, at £2.1bn, represents 98% of forecast construction revenue for the year to 30 June 2013 and 53% of forecast construction revenue for the year to 30 June 2014.
The energy sector is expected to bring work eventually but ongoing delays to the energy market reforms continue to block projects coming through, Kier said.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
