Lend Lease to complete halted Olympic village block

Lend Lease has been lined up by the Olympic Delivery Authority to complete construction of one of the blocks at the Olympic athletes’ village, after contractor P Elliott went into administration.

Work on the N14 tower block ground to a halt last week as a result of P Elliott being placed into administration. There was initial speculation that the ODA was considering the appointment of a contractor from the four other firms working on the village.

A spokesperson for the ODA has confirmed that Lend Lease is its preferred contractor to take over work on the block. However, sources said the construction and project management arm of Lend Lease, formerly known as Bovis, had already taken on the employment of P Elliott employees and promised to pay subcontractors.

The ODA spokesperson said: “Subject to ongoing discussions, the plan is for Lend Lease to take over P Elliott’s block.

“We intend to retain the current workforce, allowing them to continue work on site under our development manager Lend Lease.”

The ODA has never made public the contract value for individual village blocks on the £711m development, though they are thought to be £30m-£60m each.

Work on the N14 block is at an advanced stage with three quarters of the project complete.

Lend Lease is overseeing the whole village construction, as well as directly building five of the village’s 11 blocks. Galliford Try, John Sisk and Ardmore are the other contractors working on the village.

The ODA also confirmed it was in talks with P Elliott’s administrators, KPMG, to allow works on the plot to resume as soon as possible. Kieran Wallace at KPMG was appointed after the Irish-owned company racked up reported debts of over £435m. Wallace said the firm would be wound up in its entirety, meaning all remaining staff will be made redundant.