Three major construction firms from Northern Ireland have collaborated to deliver a series of schools in a contract worth £70m in the Scottish Western Isles.
Farrans, H&J Martin and Patton, working under the joint-venture name of FMP, beat off stiff competition to win the construction contract for six schools as part of the Western Isles Schools Project (WISP) funded by the Scottish Government.
In the past seven years FMP has won around £350m of business including work on 45 educational facilities. The latest contract represents the single biggest ever capital project on the Western Isles.
The WISP generated £35million for the local economy and at its peak 300 jobs were created throughout the construction project with over 3,500 site inductions across the new school sites.
Grant Robinson, Managing Director of FMP said: “The WISP contract represents a significant piece of business for FMP. Given the experience of this team we were always confident in our abilities to deliver a project of this magnitude. It has been a challenging and rewarding series of projects to manage as working on an island created significant access and logistical barriers, while the weather conditions forced us to halt work on a number of occasions.”
Work on the schools which comprised a mix of new-build and refurbishment began two years ago. Each of the schools has been designed to meet BREEAM Excellent accreditation, one of the most comprehensive and widely recognised measures of a building’s environmental performance. Combined, the six schools have provided over 28,000 m2 of facility floor space and will accommodate over almost 2,000 pupils in pre-school, primary and secondary education.
The Nicolson Institute, Stornoway, Lewis With a school roll of 1,100 pupils this is the largest secondary school in the Western Isles and is located adjacent to the existing site on Springfield Road, Stornoway. While the old school consisted of several buildings spread over a large, disparate campus, the new school is a single new-build facility providing in excess of 13,500sq.m of floor space. The new campus also includes the retained C-listed Pentland Building and the B-listed Matheson hall which have been extensively upgraded and refurbished to provide CDT and ICT facilities respectively this ICT
Hub will also provide centralised services to all schools in the Western Isles. West Side Primary School, Barvas, the Isle of Lewis. Primary school catering for 100 primary pupils and 23 pre-school pupils. This project was a new build facility providing 1,593 m2 of floor space.
Balivanich Primary School, Balivanich, the island of Benbecula. Primary school catering for 150 primary pupils and 60 pre-school pupils. This project was a new build providing 2,047 m2 of floor space.
Sir E Scott School, Tarbert on the Isle of Harris. Primary school catering for 174 pupils and 40 pre-school pupils. This project was the combination of a new build 4,147 m2 of floor space and refurbishment 1,510 m2 of floor space.Point Primary School, Bayble, Isle of Lewis. Primary school catering for 175 primary pupils and 40 pre-school pupils. This project was a new build facility providing 2,122 m2 of floor space.
Daliburgh Primary School, Daliburgh, south Uist. Primary school catering for 90 pupils and 12 pre-school pupils. This facility was a new build providing 2,082 m2 of floor space.
Grant Robinson continues: „We are proud to have contributed to each school and the local communities they serve. The sheer commitment and effort from the Comhairle and Sgoiltean Ùra generated the energy, foresight and can-do attitude that was infectious for the entire team. We are delighted that construction of each of the schools has been completed on time and within budget, paving the way for the schools to open on time for the commencement of the academic year.
Feedback to date has been tremendous, everyone involved with the construction project from the Comhairle and Sgoiltean Ùra to the police and people living in the communities, have been very pleased with the delivery of the schools.
“All that remains to be completed is the final phase at Daliburgh Primary School, where we will be off site by December 2012 and a second phase of works at the largest school, the Nicolson Institute, Stornoway.
Demolishing the now vacated old school at Nicolson will allow us to construct the dedicated bus and car parking as well as a full size grass pitch commencing in mid-August 2012 for completion in January 2013.”
As part of FMP’s commitment to integrating with the communities on theWestern Isles FMP provided opportunities for the long-term unemployed towork on the projects. FMP worked closely and engaged directly with ConstructionSkills, Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers Federation (SNIPEF) and Skills Development Scotland through the “Adopt an Apprentice” scheme. This initiative targeted redundant apprentices offering them a second chance to complete their apprenticeship training. Grant continues: “A key element of our activity was focused on working collaboratively to safeguard apprentices on the islands who had been made redundant. This scheme is one of the biggest success stories that has come about as a result of the WISP. FMP is delighted to have contributed to giving so many unemployed and apprentices‚ job opportunities during the construction of the six schools.”
Looking to the future, Grant Robinson is optimistic about securing further contracts within the education sector. Our expertise in delivering large scale construction projects isclearly proven and we remain confident in our ability to secure contracts in the future. Our business growth strategy is to remain focused on export and we firmly believe that the opportunities exist across Britain, especially within the education sector,” Grant concludes.
Martin Joyce, Head of Operations, Sgoiltean Ùra, said: “We are delighted that FMP have successfully delivered six new schools on time and on budget. FMP‚s unique collaborative working methods demonstrate that even in remote locations such as the Western Isles, joint project delivery and a desire to succeed can deliver real achievements.
“In addition to the local supply chain being utilised by FMP, we are delighted that the Western Isles Schools Project has afforded the opportunity for so many apprenticeship and training positions for the duration of the contract.”
FMP is a collaboration of three of Northern Ireland‚s leading construction firms ˆ Farrans (Construction) Ltd, H&J Martin and Patton Group. The company was established in 2005 and since then FMP has secured contracts to the total value of £350m. Projects that FMP has delivered in Northern Ireland include Ashfield Girls School, Girls and Boys Model, Grosvenor Grammar and Orangefield Primary School.
