News round-up - week ending 17 October

HS2 kicks off supplier days; study confirms BIM level 2 can be minimum standard for route; Government starts sale of HS1 route operator Eurostar.

Jackie Whitelaw
16 October 2014

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1. HS2 is holding its first supplier day today and is calling on industry to get ready to bid for the £10bn worth of contracts available for first phase of the high speed railway between West Midlands and London. Over 1,500 delegates from more than 900 firms are expected at London’s Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre today and at Manchester Central on 23 October to hear from HS2 Ltd what will be needed from industry. 

2. HS2 has published the results of a comprehensive study to test whether the supply chain is ready to work to Level 2 BIM. It confirmed that Level 2 BIM is a realistic minimum standard for the project but with some upskilling help needed from HS2 for Tier 2s and 3s. Key data from the study showed: 94% of the supply chain already use BIM; 60% have a BIM strategy with defined goals; 71% make financial provision for BIM; 60% work to a BIM standard as part of their QA process. Tier 1 organisations were the most evolved whereas Tiers 2 and 3, with the exception of a few early adopters, were constrained within levels 0-1. 

3. The UK government is seeking buyers for its 40% stake in Eurostar to help boost the public finances. Its intention to sell was set out last year in the  Autumn Statement and National Infrastructure Plan. Government hopes to raise about £20bn from corporate and financial asset sales by 2020.

4. Tata Steel is planning to sell its Long Products division, which employs 6,500 people in the UK and Europe to Klesch Group. Indian-based Tata said it had signed an agreement with Klesch Group, a company with headquarters in Geneva, which it hoped would lead to a sale. The Long Products division manufactures transport rails and steel sections for use in construction, heavy industry and excavation, and accounts for about a third of Tata Steel's UK employees. The sale, if it goes ahead, will reduce the number of Tata Steel's UK employees from 17,500 to 11,500.

5. The UK unemployment total has fallen below two million for the first time in almost six years. The number of jobless people fell by 154,000 to 1.97 million in the three months to the end of August, the Office for National Statistics said. The drop took the unemployment rate to 6%, its lowest level since late 2008.

6. Skanska is joining forces with green energy company Ecotricity to create the Skylark joint venture  to build wind farms in Britain worth up to £500M over the next five years. Three development sites have already been identified for Skylark’s first round of investment and they could be producing power as early as 2018.

7. Ofcom's trials for licensing out of white space gaps between digital TV frequencies could be used for smart city applications to benefit public transport users, drivers looking for parking spaces and communities at risk of flooding.

8. £30M of Government funding is being made available to communities alonside the HS2 route to invest in public projects such as refurbishment of community centres, nature projects and to support local jobs and the local economy, Department for Transport has said.

9. Heathow Airport Holdings has sold Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports to Ferrovial and Macquaire for £1bn. The deal is expected to be finalised in January.

10. Liverpool's Everyman Theatre designed by Haworth Tompkins Architects has won the RIBA Sterling Prize.