Press release: Westminster appoints selected bidder
04 October 2007
Westminster City Council Press Release
Westminster Council has selected a preferred tenderer for the £152m investment scheme to renovate and transform seven secondary schools and two special schools in the borough.
Under the Building Schools for Future (BSF) programme Westminster’s school children will benefit from one brand new school and a further refurbished eight schools.
Following a public consultation on the designs of the new-look buildings for Westminster City, Pimlico and St Marylebone School, Bouygues Partnership for Education and Community (BPEC) has now been chosen to start the crucial building work early next year.
BPEC was selected from three initial bidders and will bring it’s expertise in construction and IT to the table.
Under the scheme St Marylebone School will see the transformation of a former Convent on Blandford Street, into a brand new sixth form centre for pupils.
The building will not only provide additional accommodation for the existing students but also allow this popular and oversubscribed school to expand to a proposed roll of more than 1,000 students.
Westminster City School’s 800 pupils will also see major improvements to sports provision with a new sports hall and better facilities for creative arts and for sixth form students.
A further 1,262 pupils will also benefit as Pimlico School will be completely redeveloped into a landmark new building by 2010.
Cllr Sarah Richardson Westminster City Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Chair of the Westminster BSF Board said: “This is a historic day for Westminster’s parents and their children.
“This is part of the council’s focus to provide first class education which needs first class facilities. I am confident that BPEC will deliver this.”
Robert Cahill, Westminster Project Director at Bouygues commented: "Bouygues Partnership for Education and Community, which includes Bouygues-UK and Ramesys relishes the unique challenge that the Westminster BSF offers and are wholly committed to delivering these exciting new facilities and services in a spirit of partnership."
Tim Byles, Chief Executive of Partnerships for Schools, the agency responsible for delivering the BSF programme nationwide, said: "We congratulate Westminster on nominating their selected bidder, which is great news for the national BSF programme and even better news for the school children and local communities. The new and improved buildings, facilities and technology that this programme brings will have an enormous impact on the education and the life chances of every child in the Westminster area.”
Ends
Notes to Editors:
- Bouygues UK is part of a wider European construction company based in France. The company is active in the UK on a range of recent and current building projects including the Home Office’s new build in Marsham Street and new secondary school projects in Peterborough, Kings College London, Lewisham and Barking and Dagenham.
- BSF is the largest single schools capital investment programme for over 50 years. The aim is to rebuild or renew every one of England's 3,500 state secondary schools during the 15-year lifetime of the programme. Partnerships for Schools (PfS) is the delivery agency for BSF.
- PfS was established in April 2004 as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), and is operated and funded under a joint venture between DCSF (formerly the DfES) and Partnerships UK.
