First of eight new schools will be open in time for the 2012 academic year

An Interserve-led consortium has been named preferred bidder on St Helens’ £150m Building Schools for the Future programme, as revealed by Building last week.

The first phase consists of the construction of two schools for £47m using PFI financing with the consortium set to provide £8m of facilities management services to the school over the following 25 years.

Later phases envisage the construction of six further schools, worth around £100m. Interserve said it expected to achieve financial close in the autumn, with the first school to open in time for the 2012 academic year.

Interserve chief executive, Adrian Ringrose, said, “We will play our part in ensuring that the schools we build will deliver the benefits the community needs. Interserve is one of the country’s most experienced and successful companies in creating schools through BSF.”

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