Find out who won
The winners of major construction contracts for phase one of HS2 between London and Birmingham worth £6.6 billion have been announced by the government today.
Among those appointed to design and build tunnels, embankments, bridges and viaducts on first stretch of the new high speed line are UK companies, Skanska Construction, Costain, Balfour Beatty Group and struggling construction giant Carillion.
The project will support 16,000 jobs over the next six years and when complete trains are set to carry more than 300,000 people a day.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “As well as providing desperately needed new seats and better connecting our major cities, HS2 will help rebalance our economy.”
“HS2 will deliver vital links between some of our country’s biggest cities, helping to drive economic growth and productivity in the north and midlands,” he added.
The news comes after a turbulent time for Carillion who last week issued profit warnings and saw the departure of its chief executive leading to shares dropping more than 70 per cent wiping almost £600m off its market capital.
In a separate statement today, Carillion announced they have enlisted accountancy firm EY to help their ailing business.
Grayling defended the choice to award contracts to Carillion telling Sky News: “They’re part of a consortium – they’re not alone in the contracts, and we’ve had secure undertakings from all the members of the consortium that they will deliver that contract.”
“My wish is that Carillion get through their current problems, but we’ve made sure that it’s not an issue for these contracts,” he added.
Leave a Comment