Balfour Beatty appointed preferred bidder for £300 million Ealing Building Schools for the Future PPP contract

Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, announces today that it has been appointed as preferred bidder by Ealing Council for their £300 million PPP Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

The BSF programme involves the delivery of upgrades and expansions to 14 of the borough's schools, the construction of a new high school in north Greenford as well as significant investment in information communications technology (ICT) in three further schools.

The initial phase of construction, which will commence in October of this year, will involve the complete rebuild of Dormers Wells High School, Southall, and the partial rebuild and remodel of The Cardinal Wiseman RC School, Greenford. Upgrades of the other schools will commence between 2011-2013, with all construction work completed by 2014.

Commenting today, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Ian Tyler, said:

"This preferred bidder award demonstrates Balfour Beatty's continuing strength and expertise in the education sector and is an excellent opportunity for us to draw on the extensive experience gained from our 11 existing PPP education projects. We look forward to developing a Local Education Partnership with the Council and Partnerships for Schools to deliver excellent design and value for all schools in the programme, as well as maximising the economic benefit to the borough."

All construction and facilities management will be carried out by Balfour Beatty. ICT services across all the schools will be delivered in conjunction with RM, a leading provider of ICT educational solutions.

Balfour Beatty will invest equity of £3.8 million into the delivery of the first sample school, Dormers Wells, with the potential for a total of up to £11.8 million equity investment in the 25-year concession as a whole.