Kier JV drafts in Carillion HS2 replacements
12 Mar 2020 By Megan Kelly
An Effiage / Kier (EK) joint venture is seeking to appoint Bam Nuttall and Ferrovial as partners on its HS2 contracts previously held by Carillion.
According to an OJEU notice posted today, the contracts involved are the £1.5bn North Portal Chiltern Tunnels to Brackley civils works, and the £994m Brackley to South Portal of Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel. The works are two-part design and build contracts; the first stage involves finalising scope and costs before the companies sign on to the construction stage of the contract.
Bam Nuttall and Ferrovial had previously bid for main contracts on HS2 without success, but did win enabling works as part of the Fusion JV.
After Carillion’s collapse, Kier and French contractor Effiage split the contracts in a 50:50 JV and offered all 51 Carillion employees that were on the job the chance to remain under the two companies. At the time, the two sections of the route were valued at £1.4bn in total, before cost escalations on the project brought the value up to £2.5bn. Works on the two sections of the route were delayed in April last year, when contractors were asked to adapt their designs with a view to reducing costs.
Balfour Beatty is expected to sign its contracts for HS2 works imminently, with CEO Leo Quinn confirming the project would more than double its future UK workload compared to the end of 2018.
Kier, Bam Nuttall and Ferrovial have been contacted for comment. HS2 Ltd declined to comment.