Stoke puts spotlight on Tay Valley

by Brian Warner

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has turned the spotlight on to the Tay Valley Lighting consortium to deliver an estimated £50m privately financed streetlighting project.

The client was expected to ask two of the four prequalified contenders to work up best and final offers for the deal.

But in a surprise move, the council has instead gone straight to appointing its preferred bidder - a route that is increasingly being adopted for PFI schemes in an effort to speed up what would otherwise be an even more protracted process.

The winning group includes Scottish and Southern Energy, Southern Electric Contracting and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The lights have now gone out for the other three contestants - Amey Highways, Balfour Beatty Power Network in jv with Seeboard, and ABB.

The council will now thrash out the final form of the contract with Tay Valley, with work on site expected to begin on 1 April 2003.

The partnership contract will involve the private sector taking responsibility for the city's lighting stock over 25 years. The project includes replacing 25,000 columns and maintaining 5,000 illuminated signs and bollards.

The contest was keenly fought, with 18 companies initially registering interest in the deal when it first surfaced.

l Amey Highways and a Seeboard/Balfour Beatty Power Networks jv are expecting to hear soon if they are the preferred bidder for Manchester City Council's £100m PFI streetlighting deal. Both groups are working up BAFOs, with the winner to be announced in October - about eight months later than expected.