Cornerstone, the developer set up by former Partnerships for Schools head Tim Byles, will look to use existing frameworks to help speed up the delivery of projects it does in partnership with local authorities.
Byles set up Cornerstone with former Carillion boss John McDonagh and former Capita chief Sir Rod Aldridge with further backing from contractors Bouygues, Morgan Sindall and Willmott Dixon.
Its business model is based on identifying the £17bn of surplus assets owned by public bodies and using them to bring projects to market for which there is a pressing social need, such as schools and social housing.
“A number of the schemes we are looking at can be procured through existing local delivery frameworks already up and running, like Local Education Partnerships. This means that we can provide better value for money because it will reduce the cost of bidding,” said Byles.
Concern is growing over rising bid costs as public bodies adopt an overzealous approach to following EU procurement rules to protect against legal action.
