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Crossrail supplier strategy aims to benefit SMEs

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  1. RICS reported today that most tunnelling expertise has come from Europe and South America because no one responded to the advert saying ‘only contractors with demonstrable previous experience on exactly similar Crossrail type tunnelling projects need apply’, and so they built the Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy at Ilford.
    In public contracts there is usually commitment to using local labour and businesses from the start, i.e. as part of sustainable construction but did they write to all SMEs or was the advert posted in a locked filing cabinet in one of the tunnels? I must say that in my experience public procurements want one thing – paper comfort. Huge insurance policies, £Ms of capital back up, and absolutely no risk. Most contractors operate in gangs of 2 and pick up whomever as they go along. If that amounts to an ‘SME’ they won’t get any of the core work as they can’t afford to comply with all the safety and certification to get approval on ‘Constructionline’ or C.H.A.S.
    And in any case contractors will be selected on relevant previous experience and that experience is currently coming from Spain, France and Austria, none of which can be described as local.
    SMEs hopeful of this work should also realise that their people must no doubt have decades of experience (in tunnelling?) and be certified by expensive training courses such as the ‘Tunnel Safety Ticket’ or similar (perhaps you can get them at the Kings Cross ticket office) available at a considerable discount to firms registered with Construction Skills but which firms invariably insist that people should already have them, which makes the skills shortage artificially worse.

  2. Our Company is a Harrow based SME. Our Construction Division and Rail Division carry out building and civil engineering works ,RC Frame and Formworks. Our Rail Division is Licenced and approved by London Underground to supply safety critical and non safety critical personnel to the Underground and Network Rail. We also tender for and carry out construction work on the rail.

    We spent a lot of time and money getting our CHAS, ISO9001 and Linkup accreddition to allow us to compete for work on LU, NR, & CrossRail, but all attempts to gain access to Cross Rail or its supply chain has been met with little or no response to PQQ after PQQ , email after email , or ‘sorry we have just signed into a 2 year framework so no oppertunities to join our framework at this time.’ However we have seen companies and a workforce recruited from all over Europe with no more accreddition than ourselves gain access .Very frustrating when we have at present 6 trainee safety critical personnel and a large data base of Skilled Trades and labour waiting for us to put them back to work when the big guns decide to hand out a small but fair share of the UK’s much needed contracts to the SME’s which have worked hard and bought into the illusion that if you invest in the CSCS Skills Certification Scheme, expensive training programmes for your work force and this country you will benifit.

    We like other SME’s have paid over £60,000 in CSCS training levey’s and for what we ask. We contacted the new Tunnel Academy to get our guys trained up to allow us to compete on crossrail and we got an email saying they were only training key trades already working on Tunnels ?? and they would hope to maybe open to all for training at a later stage????. It is hard not to ask is the Construction industry and Crossrail going to be a closed shop to UK SMEs despite the talent and commitment they have to offer to Safety, Quality and the UK.
    Lets see?

    Sean Gilmour

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