Carillion JV expected to be awarded Manchester Airport contract

Author: David Howells - 15 April 2013

A joint venture led by Carillion looks set to have won the contract to develop Manchester Airport, constructionenquirer.com reports.

The consortium, which comprises Argent, Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund and Carillion, hasn't yet officially been confirmed as the contract winners, although multiple rumours have suggested it's been favoured over rival Kier Property, which also submitted a bid.

Carillion's bid comes even after the company said it would be reducing construction turnover in a bid to boost profits, which worked out to see increases of 25 per cent. It is now thought that Carillion will ramp up its construction offering once more, following similar bids for the likes of the Battersea Power Station redevelopment, which could bring in close to £350 million of work.

The Manchester Airport contract, which is worth in the region of £650 million, will be officially confirmed later this week by the Manchester Airports Group (MAG). It will see Carillion tasked with building one million square foot of office space, over 380,000 square foot of manufacturing space, 2,400 new hotel beds and 1.4 million square foot of logistics space - which could include entrance canopies and cycle shelters.

Despite the rumours to the contrary, a MAG spokesperson told manchestereveningnews.co.uk: "No party has yet been selected for the final stage in our joint venture partner selection process.

"We are pleased with the level of interest shown to date by a number of parties in relation to the Airport City Project at Manchester Airport; as a number of bids have come from a range of international developers and funders."