Re Contract

Balfour Beatty PLC
10 July 2003


                 CONSORT HEALTHCARE REACHES FINANCIAL CLOSE FOR

                        £125 MILLION BLACKBURN HOSPITAL



Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction and services group,
announces today that Consort Healthcare (Balfour Beatty Capital Projects Ltd and
HSBC) has reached financial close for the PFI contract for the design,
construction, finance, maintenance and lifecycle replacement of a new, acute
hospital at Blackburn, Lancashire, by the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.



The concession period will be for 35 years following construction completion.
Construction is scheduled to be complete in 36 months.



Commenting on the contract, Mike Welton, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, said
today: 'We are delighted to have reached financial close for Blackburn Hospital.
  We look forward to bringing the same professionalism and discipline to the
task that ensured that both North Durham Hospital and the Edinburgh Royal
Infirmary opened on time and within budget just three years after their
financial close.  We are dedicated to working with the Trust to create a
first-class healthcare facility to ensure that clinicians can do their best
work.'



Trust Chief Executive, John L Thomas, said: 'I am confident that by working in
partnership with Consort Healthcare we can deliver a state of the art single
site hospital which will help us provide the best possible care for our
patients.'



Acute services in Blackburn are currently provided at two sites.  The project
involves extending one of them, the Queens Park Hospital, to integrate all acute
services as a single site.  As a result, the scheme will provide all current
services at much greater efficiency levels and will also increase the number of
hospital beds and operating theatres.



The new extension will have 308 in-patient beds, which, with a further 68 beds
in refurbished existing accommodation, will combine with existing provision to
bring the total number of in-patient beds on site to 668.  There is also an
expansion in day-case bed numbers, together with 11 in-patient and day-care
theatres, a cardiac catheter laboratory, an accident and emergency department to
cater for over 70,000 attendances and a new and expanded outpatient department.



Consort Healthcare is a 50/50 joint venture between Balfour Beatty Capital
Projects and HSBC.  Construction will be carried out by a joint venture of
Balfour Beatty Construction Limited and Haden Young Limited, Balfour Beatty's
building services subsidiary.  The facilities management contract will be
carried out by another Balfour Beatty subsidiary, Haden Building Management.



This is the fourth privately financed hospital for Balfour Beatty.  Earlier in
2001 the £70 million North Durham Hospital opened to time and budget.  The £220
million Edinburgh Royal Infirmary opened to time and budget earlier this year.
The £227 million University College London Hospital is under construction with a
planned opening date in summer 2008.





Enquiries to:

Tim Sharp

Tel: [phone]

www.balfourbeatty.com





Notes to Editors



1.         In the healthcare sector, Balfour Beatty already has three
concessions, the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and North Durham Hospital, through
Consort Healthcare, and the University College London Hospital.  The total
construction value of these three projects is approaching £500 million.  Balfour
Beatty's equity contribution to these three hospital projects is £24 million.



2.         Full details of Balfour Beatty's involvement in PPP/PFI, in which it
has 16 concessions in all, are available on www.balfourbeattyppp.com.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange                    E