Balfour, Laing O'Rourke and HBG among eight on Scots Procure21 shortlist

Eight contractors including Balfour Beatty, HBG, Interserve and Laing O’Rourke are on the shortlist for the £1bn Scottish equivalent of ProCure21.

The other four contenders are Morgan Ashurst; Carillion; Morrison Construction and a joint venture of Robertson and Dawn. A total of 14 firms bid for the shortlist.

The eight firms include four of ProCure21’s eight contractors (Balfour Beatty; HBG; Interserve; Laing O’Rourke) and all three of the Welsh Health Estates Designed for Life framework members (HBG; Interserve; Laing O’Rourke).

The two stage tender process will see the eight whittled down by October to a final three to five Principal Supply Chain Partners (PSCPs). The framework is set to deliver at least £150m of capital works a year on behalf of Scottish Health Boards across Scotland. It will run for four years with a two year renewal option.

The Scottish model, known as Frameworks Scotland, is a refined version of the NHS ProCure21 initiative. It shuns the unpopular membership fee and keeps the number of PSCPs down to no more than five, unlike ProCure21 which launched with 12 members. However the Scottish framework is unlikely to be mandatory, unlike its Welsh equivalent, because the Scottish Health Boards have demonstrated strong support for the model.

One insider commented: "Much more work is expected to come through this framework than predicted because, following the SNP ditching PFI, this really is the only game in town right now."

Peter Haggarty, director of property and capital planning at Health Facilities Scotland, said the shortlist included a good mix of Scottish and national contractors. He said the submissions included "some very excellent and innovative approaches."

He added that the framework would hit the ground running, with a number of schemes ranging from £5m to over £100m already in the pipeline. These will be showcased to the shortlisted bidders at an information day in Glasgow next week.

Five consultants frameworks under the initiative were also shortlisted this week.