Watkin Jones has landed £60m of new contracts as demand for student housing retrofit and fire safety work accelerates. Watkin Jones has also partnered with Marick Real Estate to develop a Staycity aparthotel in Oxford city centre. Watkin Jones said the new retrofit work had been secured at margins in line with guidance, strengthening its forward pipeline while live construction projects continue to perform in line with expectations. Chief executive Alex Pease warned that delivering improved second half operating profit still depended on completing a small number of investment transactions before its year end, with fragile real estate funding markets continuing to pose a risk. He said: “While market conditions remain challenging and continue to impact the pace of recovery and short-term real estate transaction liquidity, the long-term fundamentals of our end markets remain attractive.