Businesses in the West Midlands are being urged to seize the opportunities that Crossrail – Europe’s biggest construction project – has to offer, in a PR release that has been issued today. And UKDN Waterflow are leading the way, with our Technical Services team providing essential sewer re-inforcement works in London as part of the project.
The release is detailed below and UKDN Waterflow also appears as one of only a handful of the thousands of companies in Crossrails Supply Chain map , being used to support the media release.
“Crossrail, the £14.8bn project that will link Berkshire with Essex via 21km of twin tunnels under London, has already awarded direct, tier 1 contracts with a value of over £5.5bn. Throughout Crossrail and its supply chain it is estimated that enough work will be generated to create the equivalent of 55,000 full time jobs.
The project has already supported employment and businesses in the West Midlands as firms have picked up contracts connected to the project. However, the majority of contracts throughout the supply chain are yet to be awarded.
Tens of thousands of business opportunities will arise over the years ahead as the project’s main contractors still need to buy a wide range of goods, works and services from companies of all sizes.
Figures published today by Crossrail show that 43 per cent of businesses winning work connected to Crossrail are based outside of London and the southeast and 57 per cent are small and medium sized businesses.
Crossrail has already supported employment and businesses in the West Midlands as firms have picked up contracts connected to the project:
• Keller Ltd, based in Coventry, has undertaken several types of piling, compensation grouting and structure monitoring to a number of Crossrail sites in London, including Dean Street, Tottenham Court Road, Plumstead and Bond Street. The company provides specialist ground engineering processes on tunneling schemes and has taken on several additional staff to deal with the demand created by Crossrail.
• UKDN Waterflow, based in Solihull, has carried out essential work at a number of Crossrail sites using innovative no-dig UV lining solutions to strengthen and protect London’s Victorian sewer networks before construction and tunnelling work could take place. At Moorgate, the site of the new Liverpool Street Crossrail station, the company installed the biggest UV sewer liner in Europe. UKDN Waterflow’s contracts with Crossrail continue to be an important part of their business, with around 125 of the company’s workforce having worked on various Crossrail projects and 27 new management and specialist jobs created as a result.
• Beaver Bridges is a specialist bridge design and manufacture firm based in Church Stretton, Shropshire. It picked up a contract to design and build a temporary bridge and tower structures to carry a series of utility pipes, allowing ground works to take place at Crossrail’s Plumstead tunnelling site in southeast London. The bridge and tower structures were fabricated at the company’s West Midlands facilities before being transported down to London for installation.
Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail Chief Executive said: “Crossrail is already helping to support jobs in the West Midlands as businesses have benefitted from work connected to the project.
“Work on Crossrail is set to peak over the next two years, so it’s vital that businesses in the region seize the opportunities that Europe’s largest construction project has to offer. Contracts worth billions of pounds will be awarded in the years ahead and we want to make sure that firms of all sizes from right across the UK know about the business openings that will arise.”
Angela Tellyn, of the West Midlands Chamber of Commerce, said: “It is great to see such a major infrastructure project having a positive knock-on effect for the West Midlands and that more companies from this region still have the opportunity to bid for work.
“This is why we have been calling for further investment in infrastructure because it has short, medium and long-term benefits for the economy.”
Crossrail has today issued a three point plan for businesses looking for Crossrail work:
• Sign up to the CompeteFor website. A bit like an online dating service for businesses, the website automatically matches suppliers to opportunities that suit them and allows them to apply for contracts quickly and easily.
• Go to the suppliers section of the Crossrail website where they can see the latest summary of all the direct contracts awarded and download a supplier guide, which is designed to help businesses find out more about Crossrail and how to become a Crossrail supplier.
• Get in touch with their recognised trade association, many of which are in contact with Crossrail about the opportunities available for the sectors that they represent.
Ends”