Bovis Lend Lease has fallen almost 30 places in 好色先生TV鈥檚 annual ranking of European contractors by turnover, in which not a single UK contractor made it in to the top 10.

Bovis Lend Lease鈥檚 turnover increased by 8.3% to 拢1.14bn in 2006, but this was not enough to stop it sliding down the league table from 22nd position to 51st. The contractor made a loss of 拢51.7m for 2006/07, marking a 75.8% drop in profit from the previous year.

UK contractors across the board are lagging in the rankings. Balfour Beatty emerged once again as the biggest UK contractor in Europe but it is only in 13th place, the same as last year. Turnover for the period was 拢5.85bn and profit was 拢125m.

French firm Vinci came top, as in previous years, with a turnover of 拢17.76bn. It was followed by Bouygues, also French, with 拢13.13bn. Germany鈥檚 Hochtief came in third, with a turnover of 拢11.4bn.

Meanwhile, a report by consultant Davis Langdon has found that worldwide construction activity grew by just 3% in 2007, compared with almost 5% in 2006.

It predicts subdued growth of about 3% in the global market in 2008, as the impact of the credit crunch bites, and similar growth over the next three years. The brightest prospects are in China and India.