Local authority procurement body Scape Group has launched two consultancy frameworks worth a total of £1bn, to be awarded next year.
Scape has issued Prior Information Notices to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) for two frameworks, one covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and another covering Scotland.
The England, Wales and Northern Ireland framework is made up of three lots – one for built environment consultancy worth £350m, one for civil engineering and infrastructure consultancy, worth £250m, and one for asset management, worth £100m.
The lots are arranged into the same three areas for Scotland, with the built environment consultancy lot worth £150m, the civil engineering and infrastructure lot worth £100m and the asset management lot worth £50m.
The services available across the frameworks include project management, quantity surveying, building surveying, commercial surveying, architecture and design services, civil and structural engineering, electrical and mechanical engineering, health and safety, highways consultancy and engineering services and strategic asset management.
The frameworks will be open to individual organisations and consortium bids and will run for four years from August 2020. They replace the current Built Environment Consultancy Services (BECS) framework, which expires in October.
The current BECS framework, led by Perfect Circle – a consortium made up of Pick Everard, Gleeds and Aecom, is projected to reach its value of £350m. To date, there have been over 1,000 commissions secured through the framework, with a total combined value of over £220m.
Market awareness days for the new frameworks will be held in London, Leeds and Edinburgh during September, where interested companies can request one-to-one meetings. An OJEU contract notice will be published later this year with preferred bidders announced in summer 2020.
Mark Robinson, Scape Group chief executive, said: “The public sector is operating in a much tougher economic environment and is being pushed to deliver more with fewer resources. We are committed to supporting our clients and evolving our services to better meet their changing needs, whilst ensuring value for money and efficient delivery of their projects.
“The decision to widen the remit of our consultancy offer has been taken following thorough market analysis and client consultation. The appointed delivery partner(s) will work closely with local supply chain networks to facilitate access to local companies and to maximise local spend. To date, the BECS framework has engaged with over 335 SMEs through its extensive supply chain. We expect the new frameworks to expand on this success with our broadened range of services.”
