EC Harris recruits contractors to bid for controversial academy work

Consultant EC Harris is heading up a consortium that is to bid for a framework to build city academy projects.

The firm has enlisted contractors Bluestone, Rok and Bowmer & Kirkland as part of its team. If successful the teams on the framework will build between £1.2-2bn of schools in the next 15 years.

The team said it was offering a different service to a contractor-led consortia. "We are responding with a more partnership-focused approach," a source said. "We are focused on educational outcomes from the projects rather than just delivering a product. It's an alternative to the basic design and build approach."

The bid is part of a major push in the education sector by EC Harris. The firm was a member of a consortium bidding for a £245m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project in Greenwich, south London. The consortium is believed to have lost the bid to a rival team headed by Vosper Thorneycroft, although it is expecting to bid for three future schemes.

We are focused on educational outcomes from the projects rather than just delivering a product

Source within consortium

Other contractors expected to bid for the city academy framework include Taylor Woodrow, Skanska, HBG, Wates and Costain. The deadline for submissions to the client, government schools delivery body Partnerships for Schools, is today. The client, which took overall responsibility for the city academy programme last month, is expected to pick six to ten teams next month.

The change to the procurement for future city academies follows major concerns over costs of currently planned projects. Two, the Harefield Academy and the St Paul's Academy, both planned in London, are on hold as they were £7m and £3m respectively above the £20m budgets expected for projects of their size. Both these schemes were procured under two-stage design and build contracts, which consultants believed would control costs on such projects.