F+G joins the race to become Olympic delivery partner

Faithful+Gould has joined a consortium bidding for the Olympic delivery partner role. The firm has teamed up with the G3 consortium, which comprises rival cost consultant Gleeds, Sir Steve Redgrave, Amec, Balfour Beatty and Jacobs Babtie.

F+G will provide cost management expertise but G3 has yet to decide how costs-related responsibilities will be spilt between F+G and Gleeds. Both firms offer project management as well as QSing. Gleeds is understood to be handling risk management for the consortium.

F+G's contribution to G3 is being led by London-based directors Ian Metcalfe and John Wood.

Metcalfe said: "We worked successfully with Balfour Beatty in the Metronet consortium. They were keen to have us involved."

Bidders for the Olympic delivery partner role had to meet a deadline of Tuesday last week for submitting pre-qualifications.

A source at one of the firms bidding for the job predicted that the role could be expanded to encompass the £4bn Stratford City project, which includes the sites of the planned Olympic Village and media centre. He said: "I can't see a situation where the ODA would leave something as important as Stratford City out of their control."

Commenting on the ODA's recent takeover of the freehold of the Stratford City site, he added: "To me that changes the whole perspective of things for Stratford City."

We worked successfully with Balfour Beatty in the Metronet consortium. They were keen to have us involved

Ian Metcalfe, director, F+G

The freehold was transferred to the ODA from English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency, at no cost. London & Continental Railways (LCR) remains the firm with control over the Stratford City site.

Earlier this week LCR removed the scheme's developers from the project. The developers, a group comprising the Reuben brothers, Westfield and Stanhope, were unable to decide which of the three parties would take the project forward.

The developers had been due to run an auction that would decide whether the Reuben brothers and Westfield would deliver the scheme. The auction, for control of Stratford City Developments (SCDL), had been delayed due to demands from each of the three parties for immunity from legal action after its conclusion.

The ODA called the takeover "a critical safeguard for the delivery of key Olympic facilities" but did not directly indicate any intention to place Stratford City under the remit of its delivery partner. The ODA reached an agreement with LCR and SCDL to move some of the Olympics facilities to the Stratford site in January.

David Higgins, chief executive of the ODA, said: "We continue to work constructively with Stratford City lead partners LCR and SCDL to deliver the facilities which we need for the Games but which are now also part of their project.

"If, for any reason, progress on these facilities does not move forward in the way currently envisaged, the safeguard is there to protect the interests of the Olympics as we now own the land."