Costain, one of the UK's leading tier one engineering solutions providers, has reported that its forward order book has reached a record £3.2 billion with the publication today of a pre-close trading update.

The announcement comes ahead of the Group’s interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2014, which will be announced on Thursday 21 August 2014.

During the first half of the year Costain said it has won major new contracts and extensions as it continues to implement its ‘Engineering Tomorrow’ strategy.

Awards announced in the period include appointment to the Network Rail £2bn National Electrification Programme; the Crossrail North East Spur contract for Network Rail; appointment to three transmission frameworks with National Grid and a further Barrow Gas Terminals contract with Centrica.

The forward order book has increased to a record level of £3.2 billion from £3.0 billion as at 31 December 2013 - over 90% of the order book comprises repeat orders.

Costain said it is also continuing to maintain a strong preferred bidder position of over £400 million. Currently, over £950 million of revenue has been secured for 2014, while overall level of tendering activity across the Group’s targeted markets remains high.

The firm said it remains on course to deliver a result for the year in line with the Board’s expectations.