UK Govt urged to move away from current procurement model

05 Oct 2010

Source:  Financial Times
The head of one of the world’s largest construction companies has called on the UK government to change the way it invests in new hospitals, schools and transport networks. Ian Tyler, chief executive of Balfour Beatty which has a market value of almost £2bn, told the London Financial Times that if the coalition government wanted to deliver the infrastructure needed to stimulate economic growth it needed to move away from the current public sector procurement model.

“At the present time, the process of procurement can limit the amount of innovation that can be driven project by project because we’re looking, essentially, at only one project at a time,” Mr Tyler said. “With taking a longer-term view of the work that has to be delivered in the UK, we and the industry as a whole, can reduce our costs which will take costs out of the process.” Mr Tyler’s comments resonate with widely held concerns in the £600bn UK construction industry about sharp falls in investment.

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