Eleven contractors have won a place on a massive regional framework scheduled to provide up to £500m of work in the next four years

Contractors including BAM, Kier, Mansell, Morgan Ashurst and Wates have gained places on the framework, which has been one of the most toughly contested tenders of the year.

The framework, called Construction Framework South West and run by a consortium of 18 district and county councils in the South-west, is intended to be used to procure contractors for new build and refurbishment works for schools, social housing, libraries and a raft of other council buildings.

The other successful partners were: EW Beard; Builders Consortium South West, a consortium of ER Hemmings (Building), Pearce Construction (Barnstaple), RJ Leighfield & Sons, and CS Williams (Taunton); Interserve Project Services; ISG Pearce; Midas Construction; and Rok Building.

The 11 were selected from over 40 applicants of which 25 were invited to tender. The framework is based on a scheme in the South-east, credited with providing millions of pounds of work to contractors.