Re Contract

Balfour Beatty PLC
11 September 2007


11 September 2007

                 BALFOUR BEATTY REACHES FINANCIAL CLOSE FOR THE
                 ==============================================
                    £136 MILLION SALFORD HOSPITAL PFI PROJECT
                    =========================================

Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction and services group,
announces today that its specialist healthcare concession company, Consort
Healthcare, in conjunction with HSBC Infrastructure Fund Management Limited, has
reached financial close on the £136 million Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
PFI project in Greater Manchester.

The project is part of the 'Northern Batch' scheme, which comprises both Salford
Royal and a hospital in Tameside for the Tameside and Glossop Acute NHS Trust
which is expected to reach financial close next week.

Commenting on the financial close of the project Balfour Beatty Chief Executive,
Ian Tyler, said:

'We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone in healthcare
development in Greater Manchester. We will be creating an environment designed
to ensure that the Trust achieves its ambitions for the highest standards of
patient care. Balfour Beatty is bringing to the Trust many decades of experience
in working as a key contractor in the healthcare sector and very substantial
expertise in planning, constructing and operating large PPP hospitals.'

Chair of Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Margaret Morris, said:

'The new development will see 36,000 sq metres of new accommodation and
refurbishment of existing buildings, providing vastly improved facilities for
patients, visitors and staff. We hope that patients and the wider public will
look forward to the benefits that this investment will bring such as more single
rooms, a more modern environment and improved access to wards and clinics.'

In Salford, Consort will redevelop and provide new buildings on the existing
hospital site, under a 35-year PFI concession contract. Consort Healthcare
(Salford) will procure the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a
new acute hospital building, an education building and multi-storey car park, in
all cases using Balfour Beatty Group companies. The construction will be carried
out by Balfour Beatty Construction, Haden Young will perform all the electrical
and mechanical systems work and Haden Building Management will supply a range of
facilities management services. The buildings have been planned to complement
the existing estate and combine the retained buildings within an overall site
master plan that will provide modern medical facilities for patients.

The facilities will include an education centre, an emergency assessment unit, a
critical care unit, a high dependency unit, an intestinal failure unit, new
renal, urology units, wards, diagnostic units, mortuary, and other facilities.
Construction is due to commence immediately with overall completion planned for
June 2012.

                                      ENDS

Enquiries to:
-------------

Tim Sharp
Tel: [phone]
www.balfourbeatty.com


Notes to Editors:
-----------------

1. Balfour Beatty is a leader in the UK PPP market with approximately
£350 million committed investment in 24 operational projects and a further five
at preferred bidder stage.

2. Balfour Beatty's existing PPP hospital schemes are as follows:

- £90 million Durham Hospital (opened 2001)

- £220 million Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (opened 2003)

- £280 million University College London Hospital (Phase 1 opened 2005)

- £116 million Royal Blackburn Hospital (opened 2006)

- £553 million Birmingham New Hospitals (under construction;due to open 2011)

- £311 million Pinderfields and Pontefract Hospitals (under construction;
  due to open 2009/10)

- £136 million Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust Hospital (due to open 2012)

- £77 million Tameside Hospital (due to open 2011)

- £152 million Fife Hospital (preferred bidder).

3. Balfour Beatty is the construction partner to Canmore Partnership Ltd in the
PPP concession for the new Victoria and Stobhill Hospitals in Glasgow. This
project, which began in August 2006, involves some £180 million of design and
construction work and is due for completion in spring 2009. In Glasgow, Balfour
Beatty is also building the new mental health secure unit at Stobhill and the
new Beatson Institute cancer research facility at Garscube.

4. Balfour Beatty is a world-class engineering, construction and services group,
well positioned in infrastructure markets which offer significant growth
potential. Its partnerships with public and private customers generate secure,
long-term income. Its financial position, with significant net cash and with
strong operating cash flows, offers continuing flexibility to add additional
capacity and expertise to the business mix and to make appropriate investments
in PPP/PFI and other long-term growth opportunities.





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