15 suppliers appointed to £1.4bn Southern Region minor works, buildings and civils partnership framework: Buildings and Civils Works Delivery Framework

Tuesday 30 Jul 2024

15 suppliers appointed to £1.4bn Southern Region minor works, buildings and civils partnership framework

Region & Route:
Southern
| Southern: Kent
| Southern: Wessex
| Southern: Sussex

New suppliers to provide planned and reactive maintenance across Network Rail's Southern Region.

Southern Integrated Delivery (SID) has appointed 15 suppliers to an innovative new 10-year partnership framework to deliver Buildings & Civils works for its Works Delivery team across the Southern region in Control Period 7 (CP7) and Control Period 8 (CP8).

As part of the Southern Renewals Enterprise, SID is responsible for planning, specifying, assembling and handing back the Southern region’s renewals portfolio for CP7 and CP8. The Minor Works, Building and Civils framework has been aligned to the Southern Renewals Enterprise model, in which profit is rewarded based on performance against the successful delivery of the Enterprise’s five outcomes.

The primary focus of the framework will be planned and reactive maintenance. By rationalising seven current frameworks into one and by awarding work directly rather than via mini tendering competitions, the new framework will provide regional consistency on how this work is managed, and will create long-term, value-driven relationships to enable sustainable growth and inward investment for local SMEs to help drive innovation and efficiency.

The framework will see one single ‘Reactive Generalist’ delivery partner appointed for Buildings and one ‘Reactive Generalist’ delivery partner for Civils. These generalists will be responsible for all reactive works (including emergency earthworks) and elements of planned maintenance. Supplementing this, thirteen specialist SME delivery partners have been appointed across seven subdiscipline lots for the delivery of low complexity, planned activities.

The lots for the framework have been awarded as follows*:

Buildings         

  • Lot 1 – Reactive Generalist (£170m): Octavius
  • Lot 2 – Fabric (£75m): B&M Mchugh Ltd & Spence Refit Ltd
  • Lot 3 – Services (£65m): KH Engineering Services Ltd & VVB Engineering Ltd
  • Lot 4 – Roofing (£30m): GS Moore Roofing Contractors Ltd

Civils

  • Lot 5 – Reactive Generalist (£160m): Dyer & Butler Ltd
  • Lot 6 – Metallic Structures (£20m): Construction Marine Ltd
  • Lot 7 – Masonry (£65m): CK Rail Solutions & Nationwide Engineering Ltd
  • Lot 8 – Drainage & Earthworks (£30m): Suttle Projects Ltd & Van Elle Ltd
  • Lot 9 – Off Track (£110m): Wessex Coombes Forestry Ltd, Kent Enable Infrastructure Ltd, Sussex Cleshar Contract Services

*values are based on CP7 contracts only

Commenting on the appointment of the new framework partners, SID Director Liz Baldwin said: “I’m delighted to announce the 15 suppliers that have been appointed to our new framework. Not only is this the largest value framework that will be appointed by our Works Delivery team, but it is also the first of many frameworks the SID will appoint to our Ecosystem of supply chain partners.

“We want to radically transform the way in which suppliers are incentivised and rewarded in the Southern Region. In particular, by decoupling turnover from profit and incentivising delivery partners around efficiencies and outcomes. This is a step change in the way contractors currently operate today in the rail industry.”

Each lot will include a minimum committed spend value of 40% for each partner, providing certainty for supply chain partners to invest in innovation whilst removing costs associated with mini competition tendering, as Cameron Burns, Strategic Commercial Director explains:

“It is envisaged that this more progressive approach will provide the platform our delivery partners need to invest into their respective businesses, promote more collaborative and honest dialogue, and also ensure the administrative costs borne through mini competitions will be minimised.

“With approximately 53% of the framework spend to be allocated to SMEs, there is also a real opportunity here to create sustainable growth for local specialists and in doing so unlock further innovation and drive greater efficiencies as a result.”

Notes to Editors

The Southern Renewals Enterprise

CP7 brings the opportunity to deliver capital works in new ways. Network Rail has taken the opportunity to build upon the lessons of other major programmes and portfolios to drive greater value and efficiency into project delivery.

By understanding the limitations of traditional contracting models and taking on board lessons from other sectors, SRE aims to deliver greater efficiency by adopting a progressive, value-based model, creating long-term relationships in which all parties are genuinely incentivised to deliver better outcomes for the travelling public and freight partners.

What is the SRE model and how will it work?

Aligned with Project 13 principles, the model for the Enterprise will be made up of three distinct entities:

  • The Capable Owner (Network Rail) will focus on owning, defining and appropriately assuring the Southern renewals portfolio delivery.
  • Southern Integrated Delivery (SID) will be empowered to plan, specify, assemble and handback the full Southern renewals portfolio. Partners will pool their expertise and resources across the entire regional renewal’s portfolio, coordinating and delivering five interlinked tranches of work:
    • Building and civils – VolkerFitzpatrick
    • Electrification and plant – Octavius
    • Signalling– AtkinsRéalis
    • Track – VolkerRail
    • Minor works - Network Rail
  • An ecosystem of the best-in-class constructors and specialist partners, assembled and managed by SID, for the overall benefit of SRE’s outcomes.

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