NEWSBRIEF

edinburgh schools tenders sought

The City of Edinburgh Council is to advertise early next year for expressions of interest in a £54-£70 million public private partnership to upgrade, maintain and operate services in the city's schools.

balfour beatty wins grangemouth bp job

Balfour Beatty Construction's civil engineering division has been awarded a £15 million contract by Amec Process & Energy for work on the BP Grangemouth PP3/PEX project. Work involves site preparation, piling, civil and building works.

top trainee receives award from minister

Keith Ellwood, who works for scaffolding contractor SGB Services, has won the Chairman's Award for the top trainee at the National Construction College. The award, presented by lifelong learning minister Dr Kim Howells MP, includes a training placement - worth £1,000 - on a major construction project at home or abroad plus £400 in prize money.

it all works out well for john laing

John Laing has scooped a £14.4 million contract to build the Centre for Mathematical Sciences research facility at Cambridge University. It will incorporate research offices, lecture theatres, laboratories and seminar rooms.

sponsors sought for marathon man

David Wilkinson, a buyer working for Welwyn Garden City-based construction firm, Miskins, will join more than 30,000 runners for the New York Marathon on 1 November 1998 to help raise funds for the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Wilkinson, whose mother is currently undergoing treatment for the disease, is hoping to complete the race in under four hours. Anyone interested in sponsoring this worthwhile run please ring: 01707 371861

eve appoints new non-exec chairman

Eve Group has appointed Michael Farebrother as a non-executive chairman with immediate effect. Farebrother, who is a chartered engineer, was formerly the chief executive of Cape. Peter Corley continues as a non-executive director, following his period as acting chairman.

debate the egan report on line

The Chartered Institute of Building has launched a special website to act as a forum for discussion on the recently published Egan Report, Rethinking Construction. Anyone wishing to make a contribution to the debate can do so at: www.ciob.org.uk/egan.

joint winners in steel tube competition

The University of Plymouth and the University of Sheffield are the joint winners of the 1998 undergraduate prize awards for Tubular Steelwork Design. The competition, organised annually by the Steel Construction Institute and sponsored by British Steel and Pipes, required the student teams to design a swimming pool complex. The structure had to be designed using predominantly hot-finished Structural Hollow Section.

millennial correction

The letter "Millennium Commission national capital projects" (CJ 22 July) should have referred to a net grant to The Millennium Experience of £399 million. Failure to do so was the result of a typographical error.