AROUND 300 staff at a project management consultancy in Manchester may soon have a new employer after a £380m deal was agreed to sell their company to the UK's biggest construction firm.

Balfour Beatty hopes its acquisition of professional services firm Parsons Brinckerhoff will help it make further inroads into the US and boost its position in the transport and power markets. The firm said Parsons' design, financing and project management skills would complement its own capabilities.

Parsons, which is owned entirely by its employees, has worked on projects for the Manchester Metrolink and the National Grid.

It has around 300 staff at its offices in the Manchester Technology Centre on Oxford Road.