Wates and McAlpine compete for first fast-track school

Wates and Sir Robert McAlpine will fight it out to build the first school trialling new fast-track procurement methods put forward by the government.

The two contractors have been shortlisted for the £10.5m Campsmount school project in Doncaster, after a competition involving the contractors on the academies framework.

The scheme will test some of the changes suggested by the Sebastian James report into schools procurement. It is understood that the aim is to cut the procurement time to about 25 weeks, compared with the usual year long process.

The winning bidder is due to be announced before the end of the year, with construction expected to commence in March 2011.

The two bidders are competing to design and build a replacement school for Campsmount Technology College, which was almost destroyed by a fire in last December. The school is currently housed in temporary accommodation.