Two in £55m courts bid

by Glenda Thisdell



Two firms are submitting best and final offers (BAFOs) for a £55m private finance initiative (PFI) courts scheme for Derbyshire County Council.

Australian investment company Babcock & Brown Properties and contractor Amey have been asked to submit BAFOs by late May. Babcock & Brown is working in joint venture with contractor HBG, Wolverhampton-based architect A Plus Design, and services provider Rentokil. The council will select a preferred bidder in July and hopes to have financial agreements closed by September or October.

Balfour Beatty was on the short list but failed to make it into the final round of negotiations.

The 25-year scheme involves the provision and operation of services for four new magistrates' court centres and refurbished courthouses at a number of locations in Derbyshire.

HBG, in a joint venture with Babcock & Brown, has submitted best and final offers for a £30m serviced magistrates' court scheme in Manchester and will know if they have won the deal within the next two months. The joint venture is competing with Carillion.

HBG and Babcock & Brown have already secured one PFI court project. They reached financial close on the £30m magistrates' court scheme in Hereford and Worcester last month. HBG will be building a seven-court centre in Worcester, a four-court centre in Hereford and a three-court centre and associated office block in Kidderminster, as well as refurbishment of the existing courts at Redditch.

Only two other PFI courts projects have reached preferred bidder status so far.

Last year, a contract for the serviced magistrates' court houses in Humberside was won by Mowlem. Also last year, a multi-court complex in Belfast was won by a joint venture company formed between Jarvis, Karl Construction and Northern Builders, called Consul Services.

Other PFI court complexes include projects at Cambridge, Ipswich, Merseyside, and Birmingham.