Consultant Gleeds has been appointed by Axiom Education to oversee the biggest education PPP project in Scotland.

Gleeds will advise Axiom, a private consortium made up of international bank ANB Amro, Laing O'Rourke and facilities manager Mitie, on the £169m Edinburgh PPP schools project.

It will include the construction of six secondary schools and two primary schools.

Laing O’Rourke will be responsible for all design and construction work.

Preliminary work on the project began in April, when Edinburgh council signed a PPP deal with Axiom to secure the building of the eight schools.

Construction work due to conclude at the end of 2009.

The contract will also cover the maintenance of the buildings, grounds and sports facilities, cleaning, waste management and catering.

Steve Whitton, who manages Gleeds’ Scottish operations, said: “This is a very important project for Edinburgh and something with which we are proud to be involved.”