Balfour Beatty has been appointed to the sole contractor to a new £1.5bn UK-wide civil engineering framework – covering public works including road repairs and major road projects, new bridges coastal defences to light rail schemes.
The framework by Scape Group - the public sector-owned built environment specialist – is open to all public sector bodies in the UK and runs until February 2019 with individual projects expected to be valued at up to £40m.
Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty’s group chief executive 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.’
Balfour Beatty stated the framework encourages collaborative working and early contractor involvement and suggested this would not only move projects more quickly to construction but also would help them stimulate local jobs.
A spokeswoman for the Scape Group told Transport Network: The new National Civil Engineering and Infrastructure Framework continues Scape’s well established collaborative working model that is a combination of genuine partnering and supply chain management.
'The collaborative approach is based on a single source framework enabling early contractor involvement with a clear focus on the needs of the client, the end user and the local community and economy. Scape’s suite of frameworks drive collaborative working between delivery partners, bringing increasing value for clients, which is measured through an extensive KPI dataset.'
The news follows a difficult year for Balfour, which saw the company rocked by profit warnings, the loss of its chief executive and takeover battles with rivals.
