Shortlisted bidders announced for South West hub

The start of construction of circa £500m of public sector infrastructure projects in the South West of Scotland moved a step closer when the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) announced the shortlist of bidders who will now go through to the final stages of the tendering process.

The shortlisted bidders - WMS Partnership, comprising the Wellspring Partnership made up from Morgan Sindall Group PLC, Apollo Capital Projects Limited and Community Solutions Investment Partners Limited, along with Miller Corporate Holdings Limited and Cyril Sweet Group PLC, and the Alliance Community Partnerships comprising Equitix Holdings Limited, Kier Scotland, Galliford Try PLC, Davis Langdon LLP and John Graham Holdings Limited - were chosen from seven applications by the SFT and the South West hub programme board.

The two  consortia will now go on to submit more detailed applications which will be submitted in June 2012 and the South West hub programme board will select its preferred private sector partner in August 2012.

When operational, the South West hub Territory will benefit the communities of Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway supported by 19 public sector organisations.

Two hub territories are already up and running (South East, North and shortly East Central (expected in December 2011) with just the West and South West territories still in procurement.  When all hubs are operational, it is expected that they will deliver more than £1.4bn of new community infrastructure across Scotland over the next ten years. 

Neil Grice, hub Programme Manager at the Scottish Futures Trust, said: “We are delighted that we received such high quality bids which made our job more difficult to choose only three to go forward to the final stage.  The quality of the submissions reflects how importantly industry views the hub project pipeline.  In these difficult times, once up and running, hub will be a welcome boost to the construction industry and will help protect hundreds of jobs in the area. 

“The hub’s flexible supply chain will offer numerous opportunities for all SME contractors and designers in the area to become involved in building high-quality, environmentally and socially sustainable public sector buildings at the best possible value for money.”

Craig Marriott, South West Hub Territory Programme Board Chair, explained:  “This is a good result for the board and we are excited to have excellent short-listed bidders to work with.  hub provides an opportunity for integrated service delivery, asset management, regeneration and the delivery of community benefits and in times like these, there has never been a better time for collaborative working across public sector agencies.”

The South West hub is well on its way to deliver improved public services for the community by building quality buildings using local suppliers and contractors, while bringing the best value possible to the taxpayer.