£750m plan to upgrade North East universities appoints construction companies

The first framework project will be the creation of a £17m sports centre at Newcastle University.

Six construction companies with North East operations have been awarded a place on a major framework which will be used by five of the region’s leading higher education institutions to deliver as much as £750m of building projects.

The Major (Construction) Works Framework agreement, announced by the North Eastern Universities Purchasing Consortium (NEUPC) will see contractors Clugston Construction , Sir Robert McAlpine, BAM Construction, Bowmer and Kirkland, Galliford Try and Robertson get exclusive rights to bid for all work from Newcastle , Durham, Northumbria , Sunderland and Teesside universities.

The framework is designed to meet the needs of the universities’ capital projects over the next six years, with several schemes amounting to more than £20m.

The first project to use the framework will be the new £17m sports centre extension at Newcastle University, which will be delivered by Clugston’s North East office in Stockton and is due to start in January 2018.

Once finished, the sports centre on Richardson Road in Newcastle will become a centre of excellence in sports science and body conditioning, serving up modern sports halls, courts, running tracks and gyms for Newcastle University students.

Steve Radcliffe, managing director of Clugston Construction, said: “We are delighted to have secured a place on this framework and look forward to supporting the capital project needs of such high-profile organisations.

“Being involved in this framework will provide the opportunity to further develop our North East Business, by investing in our commitment to employment and skills and growing the local supply chain.”