More than £7 million will be paid to the supply chain working at “one of the largest projects” ISG had in the UK before its collapse.
Cardiff Council has appointed Wales-based construction company Borley Engineering Services Ltd (BESL) as interim principal contractor for the £108 million Fairwater Community Campus project following ISG going into administration.
In doing so, the local authority has also pledged to make payments of more than £7 million to the existing subcontractors and suppliers for works already completed on site.
BESL will restart works on site “as quickly as possible”, while a tender exercise gets underway to select a replacement principal contractor to see the project through to completion.
It is understood the council is aiming to have a new main contractor take over the project by April next year.
It is also understood Fairwater is one of the biggest projects ISG had on site across the UK and this arrangement has not been replicated elsewhere, according to Cardiff Council.
“As part of the arrangements with ISG’s administrator, the council will appoint BESL on an emergency basis and will save jobs and protect the works completed so far by making payments in excess of £7 million to the existing subcontractors and suppliers for works already completed,” the council said in a statement this morning.
Adding: “The local authority has actively engaged with the subcontractors throughout the process, of which many are based within 20 miles of the Fairwater Community Campus site.”
Backed by Cardiff Council and Welsh Government, the project is Cardiff’s largest education development funded under the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme to date.
The scheme includes the construction of three new-build schools for Cantonian High School, Riverbank School, and Woodlands High School, all on the single site in Fairwater.
A spokesperson for Cardiff Council said: “We are fully committed to ensuring the progress of the Fairwater Community Campus project and have put in place an arrangement that saves the supply chain.
“By selecting BESL as the interim emergency principal contractor, we will get workers back on site as soon as possible, ensure workers are paid for work done, minimise delays, keep costs down, protect jobs, and safeguard the supply chain while protecting the public investment that has already taken place in what is one of the UK’s largest education projects.
“This project is vital for the current and future generations of pupils in the three schools, and to the wider community, that will be utilising the new facilities on the campus, and we are dedicated to seeing it through to completion.”
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