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Costain shot to the top of the overall contractors’ league table last month after picking up three major Network Rail contracts worth £415m.

The contract wins comprised work in Kent, western England and Wales, and central England and were worth £120m, £150m, and £145m respectively.

Bam Construction took top spot in the contractors’ league table, excluding civils, with a £217m haul across 16 contracts.

Mace was one of the big movers last month, up from 35th in the contractors’ league table, excluding civils, in April, to take second spot, with a £97m haul.

Mace’s wins included a £62m job on a new office complex for British Sky Broadcasting in Isleworth as well as a £20m revamp of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office building in Westminster.

Buckingham Group was also a big mover, up from 45th spot in April to sixth in the contractors’ league table, excluding civils, with the firm’s  £58m haul including a £24m job to build a new logistics building at the London Gateway port in the Thames Estuary.

Overall the CPA/Barbour ABI construction index hit 123 in May, 2% lower than April, but 5% up on a year ago.

The index, compiled by the Construction Products Association (CPA) using data from construction information provider Barbour ABI, measures contract awards and uses a January 2010 base of 100.

Noble Francis, CPA director, said that while private housing was driving much of the growth across the industry, the latest data showed that there was a rise in the number of industrial factories contracts, as well as a notable increase in public sector contracts.