Leeds council names preferred bidder on £250m school programme

A consortium led by support services and PFI specialist Interserve has been named preferred bidder for the £250m Leeds Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme.

Leeds City Council has selected the Interserve-led Environments for Learning (E4L) consortium, which also comprises Mott MacDonald and Barclays Private Equity, to undertake a programme of replacement and refurbishment of 15 secondary schools, four of them delivered through PFI.

The consortium beat Investors in the Community, a joint venture between Land Securities Trillium and Mill Group, to the deal.

The Leeds BSF scheme is the ninth so far to be awarded as part of the £45bn UK Department for Education and Skills initiative to rebuild all English secondary schools over the next 10-15 years.