Carillion among bidders for £900m HS2 contract
Carillion is among the list of companies bidding for a share in £900 million work preparing the ground for the first stage of the HS2 high speed railway project between London and the West Midlands.
HS2 bosses are predicting thousands of people will be need to work on the project, handling everything from moving electric, gas and water pipelines, site clearance, demolition, drainage and rerouting road to ecological surveys and archeological work.
The project made its first, short-lived, archeological find just last week, in Buckinghamshire. It turned out to be a Second World War unexploded bomb and was subsequently blown up.
HS2 Ltd has published a shortlist of seven different consortia of companies hoping to win a slice of the work that will be carried out ahead of the civil engineering to start building the actual railway line for the £55.7 billion project.
Preparatory work for the first stretch of the HS2 is expected to start in 2017, after one of the seven bidders is selected.
The construction arm of Wolverhampton-based Carillion has teamed up with French company Eiffage Travaux Publics and Kier Group to form the CEK JV consortium.
Among the other consortium bidders are Balfour Beatty Vinci, Costain, Skanska, Laing O'Rourke, Morgan Sindall, Galliford Try and Bouygues, French owner of Stourport-based Thomas Vale.
Simon Kirby, chief executive of HS2 Ltd, said: "Today's shortlist marks an important milestone as we move towards the start of construction in 2017 and a real boost for the UK construction industry.
"Over the course of the next few years, the winning bidders will go on to employ thousands of people on site and in the supply chain, preparing the ground for the start of major civil engineering.
"Announcing the shortlist now will help give business the certainty they need to push on with their bids, start to put in place supply chains and invest in recruitment, training and education ahead of the start of construction."
The work is split into three packages, covering the northern, central and southern sections of the route, so each bidder will have three chances to win a share of the scheme.
The announcement follows on from the Government's decision to bring forward the Birmingham to Crewe section of the route six years ahead of schedule, to 2027.
