Carillion awarded contact to build biggest UK hospital

Carillion, the FTSE 250 construction firm, has been awarded a contract by the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital Public Private Partnership (PPP).

The deal, the capital cost of which will be in the region of £335m, will see Carillion carry out the construction work and deliver support services for the hospital, from which it expects to generate approximately £80m of revenue over the life of the 30-year concession contract.

Carillion said it also expects to invest some £24m of equity in the project.

Carillion Chief Executive, Richard Howson, said: "We are delighted to have been selected to as the preferred bidder to deliver the new Royal Liverpool Hospital. This is our sixteenth PPP hospital in the UK and I believe our selection for this project reflects Carillion's outstanding reputation for delivering high-quality, value for money projects.

"This takes the total value of new orders and probable orders for Carillion in 2013 to over £2.0bn and demonstrates the benefits of our strategy of focusing on national construction projects."

Work on the project is expected to begin early next year, and is scheduled for completion in 2017.

The new hospital will be the largest in the country with 646 beds, including a 40-bed Critical Care Unit, 18 operating theatres and one of the largest emergency departments in the North West.

Construction of the new hospital is expected to contribute around £240m to the local economy, creating the equivalent of some 750 full-time jobs during the construction period, with 60% of these jobs going to local people. There is also a commitment to source at least 60% of materials locally, Carillion said.

The share price rose 2.46% to 278.70p by 09:20 on Thursday.

NR