'Stop criticising and work together' says DE

Defence Estates (DE) is calling a truce in its war of words with the major contractors.

Vice Admiral Peter Dunt, chief executive of the DE, told CJ: "It's unhelpful for both sides to throw bricks at each other. We should stop being critical and get on and work together.

"We want to get away from this adversarial behaviour. There are actually lots of good news stories to tell, like Andover North and the Single Living Accommodation Moderisation programme."

Dunt was speaking in the aftermath of an astonishing attack by Kier and Major Contractors Group chairman Colin Busby, who called DE's procurement performance "very disappointing" and said that its prime contracting documentation was "unreasonable" (CJ 5 March).

Dunt admitted that DE has scope for improvement and said that its new structure (with the formation of six customer estate organisations as of 1 April) should address some of the industry's key concerns, especially regarding the time and cost of bidding. But he argued that the regional prime contracts were extremely complex and spread over large geographical areas. "So it's understandable that they're taking a long while," he said.

Dunt also suggested that some of the criticism levelled at DE was "sour grapes". "The work doesn't suit everyone," he said.

n Look out for CJ's full interview with Vice Admiral Peter Dunt, coming soon.