NEWS
INDUSTRY UPDATES Each month PSBJ rounds up the latest public sector construction updates, from new contracts to industry awards.
Diamond Build appointed for primary school revamp Following a successful tender process, Haringey Council has appointed building contractor Diamond Build to refurbish and remodel elements of a primary school in Tottenham, London. The £3.7m of onsite works will provide Chestnuts Primary School with two new classrooms, which will enable decanting during the programme and be retained on completion. Diamond Build will also be responsible for refurbishing sections of the building’s fabric, including the school’s roof, and installing new windows and repairing brickwork. To improve energy efficiency, the team will upgrade the heating and water system along with new loft insulation and install new emergency lighting, fire alarms and data cabling. Matthew Thomas, Operations Director at Diamond Build, said: “This is a crucial project for the school, which will overhaul many of the existing services. All the work will be carried out while the school remains open, so will require a carefully-managed decanting programme. This will enable the staff to continue with the day-today delivery of education on site while we deliver the upgrades.” The works are scheduled to be completed by autumn 2022.
The UK’s first co-funded, industry-led construction school opens its doors AccXel is welcoming its VIP guests to celebrate the launch and success of a collaboration of the public and private sector as it pioneers the way in construction education. AccXel has been co-funded by HM Government, GFirst LEP and the family-owned construction business, K W Bell Group. The school has been established to tackle the severe skills shortage plaguing the construction industry, by recruiting new talent to the sector, helping the existing workforce progress to the next phase of their career and connecting both the education and industry sector to accelerate new skills. Nicola Bird, AccXel’s Founder and Managing Director, said: “We are so pleased to be finally opening the doors to AccXel. Over the past year, we have garnered a huge amount of support from within the construction industry, which has highlighted how desperately an education facility, like AccXel, is needed. We are so excited that our school has completed its construction phase, and we can finally put our plans to support the future of the construction workforce into fruition.”
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G F Tomlinson appointed to £7bn DfE framework G F Tomlinson is celebrating its re-appointment as an approved partner for the new £7bn Department for Education 2021 Construction Framework, a four-year framework for the delivery of both education and non-education projects in the public sector. The framework supports the delivery of the Department for Education’s school building programmes, with an emphasis on achieving net-zero carbon in operation. Following a rigorous selection process, G F Tomlinson is one of only 26 contractors to be selected nationally, and will deliver projects valued between £0.5m and £6.0m across the East and West Midlands. This is the third consecutive Department for Education framework the regional contractor has been appointed to since 2014. Over the last eight years, the company has delivered more than £55m of new-build and refurbished primary, secondary, SEND and alternative provision schools, providing 4467 new pupil places across the Midlands. The new framework will be available to local authorities, schools, academies, FE colleges, universities and other public bodies which provide educational facilities in England, whilst also being available to central Government, including Government agencies.
Suppliers appointed to £500m public sector framework Worth £500m over six years, the Multi-disciplinary Consultancy Services framework (MDC1) is available to public sector organisations across two of LHC’s divisions; CPC, which covers the north of England, the Midlands and Anglia, and LSE, covering London and South East. Gary Cawley, CPC Regional Director, welcomes the new construction framework with 12 workstreams – which can be used by a wide range of public sector clients including local authorities, registered social landlords, tenant management organisations and arm’s length management organisations, health authorities, councils, boards and trusts, publicly-funded schools and further education establishments, and registered charities. He comments: “This framework enables these organisations to access high-quality, pre-approved suppliers to achieve a compliant asset management regime across a range of buildings including education, healthcare and service stations, community buildings, residential properties (when part of a mixed-use development), commercial to residential conversions, and their associated works.”
