Balfour Beatty, the engineering and construction group, said on Monday that it had been chosen as the preferred bidder for £120m contract to build four academy schools across the UK’s south coast.

Balfour, which earlier this month made the largest acquisition in its history, buying US firm Parsons Brinckerhoff for £380m, will begin work on the £28m project at Sir Robert Woodard Academy at Lancing, West Sussex, early next year.