Five in line for MoD’s Central regional prime

Five consortia are planning to bid for the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) fourth regional prime contract, following an industry day held last week.

Amec Turner, Carillion Services, Debut Services (Bovis Lend Lease and Babcock), Emcor Facilities Services and Prime Serve UK (Balfour Beatty/Atkins) have all confirmed to CJ that they will be bidding for the £750m Central regional prime contract.

The PQQ is expected to be issued this Friday, although several sources claim that Defence Estates said that if the number of interested bidders dropped to five or less, it would skip the PQQ stage.

Defence Estates originally received expressions of interest from eight contractors. Edmund Nuttall was planning to bid as a single contractor, but has now joined the Debut Services consortium.

Mark Grant, project leader for the Central regional prime, said: "We are at the beginning of what will be a long-term relationship with industry.

"We will be seeking to identify and take forward those companies, and their supply chains that can demonstrate their willingness to embody the principles of prime contracting as well as ensuring the MoD achieves best value for money."

The Central prime contract will see a contractor take over responsib-ility for construction, refurbishment and maintenance at more than 100 MoD establishments across the West Midlands, North East and North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the whole of Wales.

The seven-year contract, with an option to extend for a further  three years, is due to be awarded in May 2005.