Balfour Beatty has been awarded a civil engineering framework contract from public sector procurement group Scape that could be worth £1.5Bn over four years.
Hundreds of construction jobs will be created or secured under the contract that is said to be the first of its kind in the UK. Under its terms Nottingham based Scape will place any projects that are routed through its framework to Balfour Beatty which has been named single contractor.
It is said to be the first framework to cover such a diverse range of projects, enabling Balfour Beatty to provide expertise and resources for civil engineering and infrastructure projects ranging from road repairs, new bridges and coastal defence works to light rail schemes and major road projects.
Individual projects are expected to be worth up to £40 million. The framework allows any public sector body in the UK to award work to contractors without having to undertake their own individual procurement process for each contract.
The framework is said to be designed to promote collaborative working and early contractor involvement. Its key advantage for public sector clients however is that it means the normal tendering process of six to nine months can be avoided and construction teams can be assembled quickly to allow an early start to works.
Balfour Beatty Group Chief Executive Leo Quinn said: “Balfour Beatty has significant depth of expertise across the UK in delivering civil engineering projects successfully and through this appointment we will be able to improve delivery for our customers and expand our portfolio of local infrastructure schemes.
“I am also delighted that we share Scape's commitment to employ and develop trainees and apprentices in acquiring the skills necessary to build lifelong careers, and to support the local businesses that the infrastructure sector relies on.”
