The £4bn PFI project to build and maintain the Allenby and Connaught army barracks has been won by a joint venture between Mowlem and the American contractor Kellogg Brown & Root
The consortium, which has won preferred bidder status, beat off competition from the Abraxis Group led by Bovis Lend Lease and Amey to win the Ministry of Defence contract.

Another bid by the Jarvis-led Defence Accommodation Services pulled out of the race last October.

It is thought the Bovis consortium suffered because it had won preferred bidder status for Project Slam, a £1bn, 10-year PFI project to upgrade the single-living accommodation of the armed forces. It was also hampered by Amey's decision to withdraw as equity partner in March.

The PFI scheme, which is expected to last between 25 and 35 years, has a value of £4bn over 30 years; this includes a capital expenditure of £1bn.

The project will provide accommodation and support services for the army's Allenby units, which are based near Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, and the Connaught units in Aldershot, Hampshire.

The PFI scheme, which is expected to last between 25 and 35 years, has a £1bn capital expenditure

It will provide about 10,700 beds, as well as upgrading single-living accommodation to the latest standard of single rooms with en-suite bathrooms.

The winning team now faces a huge logistical task to hire workers and subcontractors for the project in time for the expected start in mid-2005.

Mowlem is understood to already be in contact with a number of recruitment consultants.