London Underground unveils framework shortlist

Taylor Woodrow, YJL, Costain, Fitzpatrick, Bovis Lend Lease and Carillion are among 18 firms shortlisted for London Underground's (LUL's) first framework contract under its £2.8bn Vendor Capital Programme.

The shortlist will be whittled down to a final eight to 16 firms by July. Framework members will then deliver at least £450m of building and civils work over a five-year period, working within four value bands (see box). Some firms could be chosen to work across all four value bands.

The value of the work could increase. LUL has indicated to interested bidders that once failed PPP consortium Metronet is out of administration, more than £1bn of work under its two PPP contracts could also be up for grabs.

The other contenders on the shortlist are: Osborne William Verry Morgan Est Colas Nuttall C Spencer Skanska Murphy and Dyer & Butler. Balfour Beatty is leading a three-pronged attack with subsidiaries Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering, Mansell and Birse Metro all in the ring.

This is the first of nine frameworks LUL plans to create to deliver its capital programme.

LUL began procuring the framework in July last year, but the collapse of Metronet brought it to a halt. The process was relaunched in January this year.

The VCP frameworks are modelled on LUL's five-year Alternative Provider framework, set up in 2005 to deliver works outside the Tube PPP and to provide a benchmark for the Tube's Public Private Partnership contracts.