Science agency seeks contractor for £1.8bn estate overhaul 

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is searching for a contractor to lead its £1.8bn estate overhaul, featuring new office space, labs and infrastructure upgrades around the country. 

In a prior information notice published on Thursday (6 February), the arm’s-length government body said it aims to hire a construction partner on an NEC contract to lead the programme, which will see around £120m spent per year over a 15-year period. 

However, it added that the contract would “not include exclusivity” and that the lead contractor “would be assessed on agreed key performance indicators and overall performance to secure subsequent schemes within the programme”.

The estimated value for the main construction partner is £800m. 

The contract will cover the following STFC facilities: the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire (pictured), the Chilbolton Observatory in Hampshire, Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire, The Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, and Boulby Underground Laboratory in Cleveland.

The STFC is an organisation within UK Research and Innovation, an arm’s-length government body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. It has two sites in Oxfordshire and a further four in Hampshire, Cheshire, Yorkshire and Edinburgh. 

STFC said its estates investment programme was designed to “address backlog maintenance, future growth and decarbonisation of its building and infrastructure”, adding that it will “consist of multiple national projects running concurrently”. 

It added: “The construction projects will range from simple shell-and-core buildings to complex scientific facilities. The programme will also include infrastructure upgrades and reinforcements.” 

The organisation is running supplier engagement sessions at its Rutherford Appleton Laboratory site in March, with details of how to sign up here.