Six selected for £1.6bn academies framework

Six firms have been chosen for the Partnerships for Schools (PfS) £1.6bn academies framework.

The lucky six are: Balfour Beatty; Carillion; Kier; Laing O’Rourke; Skanska; and Willmott Dixon. Left out in the cold are Alfred McAlpine; EC Harris; HBG; Interserve; Taylor Woodrow and Vinci subsidiary Norwest Holst. Contenders Mace and Amec withdrew from the race last month. Sources said the two firms were frustrated by the speed and lack of consultation in the process.

The four-year academies framework contract sets a tight timetable. It aims to deliver 50 sponsored academy schools, at least 57 new secondary schools and a number of primary schools. The schools will be spread over four regions: the North and Humber; the Midlands (including East Anglia); the South West; and the South East and London.

The news comes in the same week Tim Byles takes up his post as chief executive of PfS. Byles, who replaces Richard Bowker, was formerly the chief executive of Norfolk County Council and is chair of the Local Government Taskforce’s Rethinking Construction team. Speaking to CJ earlier this year, Byles said he was keen to speed up the delivery of schools under the Building Schools for the Future programme.