Transformation contract awarded

Manchester company Laing O’Rourke has been appointed to refurbish the city’s Town Hall Complex.

The Hulme-based firm has been awarded the construction contract for the transformation of the Town Hall Extension, Central Library and St Peter's Square - which is worth around £90 million.

At the heart of the Council's ambitious Transformation programme are the twin goals of delivering better, easier to access services while preserving and enhancing historic buildings and spaces for future generations.

The key element of the programme is the creation of an integrated Customer Service Centre, which will allow people to access all the council services they need in a single visit. This more accessible and efficient approach is being pioneered in the Customer Service Centre at One First Street and will be expanded when services return to the refurbished Town Hall Extension in three years' time.

Works to make the historic Town Hall Extension and Central Library buildings more energy efficient will also contribute to the Council's drive to cut its own carbon footprint, part of the goal of reducing the city's carbon emissions by 41 per cent by 2020.

Both the Town Hall Extension and Central Library and Central Library are Grade II*-listed and their respective refurbishments will be sympathetic and ensure that listed features are preserved. A public pre-planning consultation on proposed designs recently took place.

Councillor Bernard Priest, Executive Member for Finance and Human Resources, said: "The importance of this project to Manchester residents cannot be overstated. It is firmly focused on providing them with better services while giving them a world-class civic complex which they can be proud of for years to come.

"Throughout this process we have chosen bids which provide the best combination of value for money and quality but it's particularly pleasing that the best bid came from a Manchester company and that our investment will support and create jobs right here and have knock-on benefits for other local contractors."

Laing O'Rourke Project Director Harold Rostron said that the company aims to ensure that a fifth or more of jobs created through the project go to Manchester residents.

He said: "As a Manchester-based business with decades of experience delivering important buildings for and in this city, we are extremely proud to have been chosen to transform the jewels in Manchester's crown.

"Community and regeneration are central to our approach, and we understand that this is more important now than ever. We are aiming to create at least one new job for every five on this project; it is an opportunity to ensure Manchester people benefit from learning, skills-development and employment."