Balfour preferred for Sunderland BSF

29/10/2007

Sunderland City Council has named Balfour Beatty as its preferred bidder to build six schools as part of its £120 million Building Schools for the Future programme.

The first award made as part of the Academies design and build framework Balfour will carry out the work on the £100 million first phase, which involves a mixture of new build and refurbishment.

Pennywell Secondary School and Quarry View Primary School will be merged into one all-age academy sponsored by the Gentoo Group, built on the Pennywell site and and scheduled to open in September 2009.

Work to convert Castle View Secondary School and Hylton Red House School to academies- sponsored by Northumbrian Water and Leighton Group respectively - will begin a year later.

Meanwhile Washington Secondary School will be completely rebuilt and Biddick School Sports College and St Robert of Newminster RC Secondary School and both refurbished by September 2009. Sandhill View Secondary School will receive an ICT revamp.

Financial close is expected to be reached in March 2008.

The first buildings will open in September 2009 with the last phase completed in December 2009.

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