Fifteen win place on £4bn Academies Framework

Fifteen firms, including five medium-sized companies, have secured a place on the £4bn Contractors’ Framework for the construction of new academies.

Four of the six incumbents on the existing £2bn framework - Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Kier, and Willmott Dixon - have found their way onto the new deal.

They are joined by medium-sized players: Apollo Property Services Group, Clugston Construction, Leadbitter, Rydon and Shepherd Construction.

Client Partnerships for Schools said that the framework, which is split between the North and the South, would start operating from December 2009 in tandem with the existing framework, which continues to operate until December 2010. The North and Midlands is expected to be worth between £1.5bn and £2bn, while the South is expected to be worth between £2bn and £2.5bn.

And it added that contracts worth in excess of £500m would be available for firms on the framework to bid for within the first five months of operation. PfS declined to reveal which projects would be brought to market first but it will be a mix of individual and group academies, as well as some primary schools and smaller-scale BSF projects.

Tim Byles, chief executive for Partnerships for Schools, said: “With contracts in the region of £500m coming to the market in the first five months alone, the new framework gives successful contractors access to a predictable flow of work, supported by direct government funding.

“The new framework will secure the future work stream, maintaining the focus on streamlined and accelerated delivery of education investment in academies, smaller BSF schemes and other education facilities, with the first schools to be procured through the new framework opering their gates in September 2012.”

The awards follow a gruelling selection process which saw 60 companies submitting per-qualification questionnaies, before being whittled down to a shortlist of 22.

Successful bidders will now be allowed to assemble their supply chain.

Companies appointed by geographical area:

Sector 1: North and the Midlands
 
Balfour Beatty Construction
BAM Construction
Bovis Lend Lease
Carillion Construction
Clugston Construction
Interserve Projects Services
Kier Regional
Shepherd Construction
Sir Robert McAlpine
Vinci Construction
Wates
Willmott Dixon

Sector 2: London, the South and the South and East of England

Apollo Property Services Group
Balfour Beatty Construction
BAM Construction
Bovis Lend Lease
Carillion Construction
Interserve Project Services
JB Leadbitter
Kier Regional
Rydon Group
Sir Robert McAlpine
Wates
Willmott Dixon