Laing O'rourke Selected For The University Of Manchester's Eight Year Contractor Partnership

The University of Manchester has announced the appointment of three contractors, including Laing O’Rourke, to deliver the bulk of its £1bn capital programme through a partnership framework agreement.

Laing O’Rourke, Balfour Beatty and Sir Robert McAlpine secured the framework contract to deliver the majority of the University’s capital projects in excess of £10m over the next eight years. The University of Manchester’s Campus Masterplan is the largest capital programme in the institution’s history and one of the largest currently underway in the higher education sector.

The framework includes a number of major developments, including the flagship £350m Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD), which will bring together the University’s four Schools of Engineering in one location and also provide teaching and office space.

Steve Coleby, Leader for Laing O’Rourke Construction UK said: “Laing O’Rourke is delighted to be partnering with The University of Manchester on this significant and transformative programme. The values underpinning the Construction Partnering Framework align well to ours and will help ensure all partners drive – and importantly share - innovation and best practice for the benefit of the University and its stakeholders, while we deliver a world-class campus.”

University Director of Estates and Facilities, Diana Hampson, said: ”This Construction Partnering Framework is probably unique within higher education. The scope and scale of the Campus Masterplan requires a huge amount of resource and presents significant delivery challenges. A collaborative, partnership arrangement was therefore vital in ensuring both quality and value.

“It will benefit all partners and importantly it will have environmental as well as social benefits such as providing training and creating jobs for unemployed people. We are looking forward to working closely with the three contractors on some landmark developments across our campus.”