Morgan Sindall Construction to continue constructing West Midlands legacy

News | 19 November 2020

During this time, the main contractor has worked in partnership with public sector customers, and fellow Morgan Sindall Group companies, including Lovell the regeneration-focused housing developer and Overbury, the fit out and refurbishment specialists, to design and build education, healthcare and leisure facilities, and homes key to sustainable growth, and healthy, resilient communities.

A £1 billion pipeline of work is expected to be routed through the new CWM2 framework, which will run initially for four years with options to extend beyond that. The previous iteration of the framework was extended twice and ran for eight years.
It will be jointly operated by a partnership of three councils: Birmingham City – which ran the previous iteration, Sandwell, and Solihull. Private sector consultancy firm Acivico will continue as project manager for the local authorities.
The framework will be open for use by any public sector organisation looking to procure construction projects in the West Midlands.

One of the main drivers behind the CWM framework is supporting job creation and retention in communities, by routing work through skilled SME suppliers local to a project’s site.

Using an established methodology called Local Multiplier 3 (LM3), Morgan Sindall Construction can calculate the economic impact it makes within the region through post code monitoring. The business also recently became one of the first main contractors accredited as a Living Wage employer and places unerring focus on supporting its supply chain.

Dave Kelly, CWM2 framework manager, said: “The legacy left by the previous iteration of the CWM framework is testament to the impact a collaborative, locally-focused approach to designing and delivering public sector construction projects can have.
“It is based on the antithesis of race-to-the-bottom mentality which afflicts many areas of construction; instead espousing collaborative, purpose-led working, based on the understanding that together we can achieve more.
Our re-appointment means a great deal to everyone involved in our Midlands business – and to me personally. We’re delighted to be continuing our legacy through the framework and look forward to making the next decade as impactful as the last.”

Richard Fielding, Midlands area director for Morgan Sindall Construction added: “The new framework launches at a time when local authorities have contended with 10 years of austerity and must now face further challenges in the recovery from COVID-19. Any strategy to build back better must prioritise local communities and the jobs which sustain them. CWM2 provides the ideal delivery vehicle to achieve that.”

Peter Yates, Regional Framework Director for Constructing West Midlands, added: “Our contractor partners are some of the very best in the market and collectively they have delivered more than £3.5 billion of framework projects in the last three years alone. As a framework, Constructing West Midlands also provides an unparalleled level of expertise. Clients gain access to some of the UK’s leading experts who advise on topics including sustainability, social value and BIM at a national level. Clients also gain the peace of mind which comes from working with a team that is driving developments in framework best practice at a regional and national level.”

Stuart Penn, managing director for Lovell Midlands, said: “It is a testimony to our track record of meeting the rigorous demands of the framework, that as part of the Morgan Sindall Group of companies, we have been selected again. It highlights our commitment to the region for the long term and this is especially true given the challenging backdrop of the pandemic. We look forward to working alongside our partners and local communities over the next 10 years.

Andrew Wood, managing director, Overbury Central, added: ‘It’s great to see our work recognised within the West Midlands and surrounding areas by the re-appointment to the Constructing West Midlands 2 Framework, as part of the Morgan Sindall group of companies. It’s more important than ever to support local projects and investment into office and education spaces. We are looking forward to adding worth via local knowledge, social value and sustainability to fit out and refurbishments, over the coming years.”

Projects delivered by Morgan Sindall Construction through the CWM framework include an £18 million annexe to extend the University of Birmingham’s Grade II-listed University House business school; and an innovative re-imagining of a former industrial site in Wolverhampton to deliver a £3 million SEND vocational college and a £20 million free secondary school for the Khalsa Academy.

For more information about this news release please contact Jonathan Daly at Influential on 07881301437 or email [email protected]