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Bidder fury as InterRoute gets HA nod in EMAC race
17:03 27 Oct 2004
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Bidders for the Highways Agency's (HA) £250m to £400m,
five-year Area 2 Enhanced Managing Agent Contractor (EMAC) contract
are up in arms after InterRoute (Raynesway/Mott Macdonald/Serco)
was announced as the lead bidder.
InterRoute fought off competition to lead the pack from: Networx (AWG/Capita); Optima (Accord/Jarvis/Atkins); Integrated Highways Services (Edmund Nuttall/Lafarge/WSP/FaberMaunsell); Amey/Mouchel; and Carillion/Parsons Brinckerhoff.
However, the other bidders are angry that InterRoute is leading the field on points, alleging that it was "squeezed" on to the shortlist for the Devon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire scheme. When the scheme was first advertised, it was stated that only five bidders would be allowed to pitch for the work rather than the current six.
The development has left some contractors questioning the suitability of the HA's Capability Assessment Toolkit (CAT).
"InterRoute shouldn't even be there at all. It is even more of a kick in the teeth that it is now the lead bidder," one contractor said. "It makes you wonder what the point of CAT is if a sixth place company can lead the field. Other bidders are very unhappy about this."
As well as being notified by the HA of its choice of InterRoute, bidders have been notified of their rankings so that they can gear up their teams if bidders above them fall by the wayside.
Next in line after InterRoute is Amey/Mouchel, followed by Integrated Highways Maintenance Services.
InterRoute's bid is now going through the reality check stage, during which the consortium will be asked to justify its bid and explain how it will handle the contract. InterRoute will then undergo a financial check-up.
A winner is expected to be announced at the start of December, after which there will be a six-month mobilisation period.
The HA was quick to point out that, although InterRoute had been announced as the
lead bidder, there was no
certainty that the consortium would seal the work.
However, it did admit that on the few occasions that the same process has been used, the lead bidder has always gone on to win the contract.
An HA spokesman said: "The selection of the tender list incorporates past performance data as well as the CAT score. We decided to invite bids from six firms because scoring was very close. In deciding to have six tenderers, we took account of the lower tendering costs on the EMAC, compared to the standard MAC."
InterRoute fought off competition to lead the pack from: Networx (AWG/Capita); Optima (Accord/Jarvis/Atkins); Integrated Highways Services (Edmund Nuttall/Lafarge/WSP/FaberMaunsell); Amey/Mouchel; and Carillion/Parsons Brinckerhoff.
However, the other bidders are angry that InterRoute is leading the field on points, alleging that it was "squeezed" on to the shortlist for the Devon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire scheme. When the scheme was first advertised, it was stated that only five bidders would be allowed to pitch for the work rather than the current six.
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The development has left some contractors questioning the suitability of the HA's Capability Assessment Toolkit (CAT).
"InterRoute shouldn't even be there at all. It is even more of a kick in the teeth that it is now the lead bidder," one contractor said. "It makes you wonder what the point of CAT is if a sixth place company can lead the field. Other bidders are very unhappy about this."
As well as being notified by the HA of its choice of InterRoute, bidders have been notified of their rankings so that they can gear up their teams if bidders above them fall by the wayside.
Next in line after InterRoute is Amey/Mouchel, followed by Integrated Highways Maintenance Services.
InterRoute's bid is now going through the reality check stage, during which the consortium will be asked to justify its bid and explain how it will handle the contract. InterRoute will then undergo a financial check-up.
A winner is expected to be announced at the start of December, after which there will be a six-month mobilisation period.
The HA was quick to point out that, although InterRoute had been announced as the
lead bidder, there was no
certainty that the consortium would seal the work.
However, it did admit that on the few occasions that the same process has been used, the lead bidder has always gone on to win the contract.
An HA spokesman said: "The selection of the tender list incorporates past performance data as well as the CAT score. We decided to invite bids from six firms because scoring was very close. In deciding to have six tenderers, we took account of the lower tendering costs on the EMAC, compared to the standard MAC."
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