In addition to investment, design and construction, the services the Skanska ID-led team is providing for the four initial schools include advanced Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to support new approaches to teaching and learning, and FM services including catering, cleaning, security, and leisure services for community use.

Each BSF programme is based on a Local Education Partnership (LEP) between a local authority, a private sector consortium and Partnerships for Schools (PfS), the UK government’s BSF delivery body. In Bristol, Skanska ID holds 80% of the Bristol LEP, and Bristol City Council and PfS have 10% each. In addition to leading the service consortium, Skanska ID has made an investment of around £4.75 million, has raised debt funding to finance construction, and manages service contracts with Skanska UK for design, construction and hard FM, and with other service providers for ICT, catering, security, and so on.

Highlights of the Bristol BSF programme include:

• 10-year LEP to develop the city’s schools
• 4 new schools opened between 2007 – 2009, construction value £119m
• A managed service for ICT
• 25-year operating contract for the four new schools
• A unique focus on sustainability
• Job creation
• Strong links with the local community
• Rebuilding work on six further schools is due for completion in 2010-11.

According to David Carter, Executive Principal of the Cabot Learning Federation that includes Bristol Brunel Academy, as the process has gone ahead, the way the partnership works has become as important as the actual terms of the contract. He says: “One of the things that has really pleased me is the partnership with Skanska. It’s been a great team approach and Skanska is part of our team.”

For Skanska ID’s Director of Education, Steve Cooper, making sure that all of the partners in the supply chain work together effectively is vital. He says: “The LEP signs up to some pretty tough financial and continuous improvement targets. This means our supply chain needs the capacity to deal with a large number of schools over a short period of time and our partners also need to be fleet of foot, intelligent and innovative enough to meet the challenging continuous improvement targets we set.”

Paul Shadbolt, General Manager of the Bristol LEP, is clear that having forged such a close relationships in the early phase will have significant benefits for subsequent phases. He says: “The next phases are designed to address the extended schools agenda and to add a whole range of community activities to our programme. The LEP will really be able to add value in terms of speeding up the process and moving forward effectively.”