What happened

Balfour Beatty has set out plans to nearly double the combined direct and supply chain workforce on its power projects, from around 3,200 people today to 6,000 by 2030, Construction Enquirer reported this week. That figure would be four times what the contractor had deployed on power work in 2024. The expansion is backed by an order book that has grown five-fold since the first half of 2023 to £2.1bn, with a further £6bn to £8bn of awarded pipeline sitting behind it.

The driver is the scale of spending now committed to Britain's electricity grid. Network owners are planning to invest around £80bn in transmission infrastructure by 2031, described as the biggest expansion of the grid in more than 70 years. Balfour is also lifting manufacturing capacity at its Painter Brothers factory in Hereford, where it builds steel towers and substation structures, from 10,000 tonnes a year to 15,000 tonnes, to keep pace with demand for the physical kit the grid programme needs.

Why it matters

Grid and power work has moved from a niche corner of the market to one of the few parts of UK construction with genuinely guaranteed, long-dated spending. Framework-backed pipelines running to 2031 and beyond give contractors the confidence to commit to workforce numbers years in advance, in a sector where most firms are still cautious about headcount. Balfour's numbers are a useful marker of how fast that one part of the market is moving, even while general building and housing activity stays weak.

It also shows where the capital is actually going. Rather than spreading investment thinly, Balfour is backing a single growth area with its own manufacturing capacity, a sign that the grid programme is seen as durable rather than a short-lived spike.

What it means for your career

This is a hiring signal worth acting on if you are in or near the power and energy sector. Balfour will need project managers, planners, quantity surveyors and site engineers who understand overhead line and substation work, not just general civils, and that experience is in short supply. Candidates who have cut their teeth on National Grid, SSEN or similar transmission frameworks should expect to be approached, and those without direct power experience but with strong civils or structural steel backgrounds should look at how transferable their skills are, particularly if they have worked on heavy steelwork fabrication or erection.

Regionally, expect recruitment pressure to build around Hereford, where the Painter Brothers factory sits, and wherever Balfour's live transmission schemes are concentrated. For QSs and commercial staff currently on slower-moving building contracts, a move into power now, while headcount is still being built rather than already saturated, is likely to carry more leverage on salary and seniority than waiting until the sector is fully staffed.