Two in battle for £42m Manchester courts scheme

Two firms have made the final run-in for a courts project in Greater Manchester worth at least £42m.

The line-up for the Department for Communities and Local Government scheme is the County Courts group, headed up by Babcock & Brown and the Modern Courts Consortium, lead by Eqitex.

The job centres on two new court houses - one at Eccles and the other at Water Place in Bolton.

An insider said: "The £42m price-tag for this job was envisaged when the contract first came up for grabs - and that was more than 12 months ago. The value of the project will be substantially more by the time it is awarded."