Heartbeat: Midland Met buzzing with Balfour Beatty on site

December 7, 2018

After months of quiet and cranes standing still, the Midland Met site has had a new lease of life this month with the arrival of Balfour Beatty as the new interim contractor.

Balfour Beatty were awarded the £10m early works contract following a robust procurement process following the collapse of Carillion.

Charged with the task of preparing the Midland Met site for winter and the restart of the main work, 50 new staff have arrived on site this month eager to get the job done.

Balfour Beatty will take on the challenge of erecting the winter garden structure as one of their first task, alongside weatherproofing and installation of heating and ventilation.

Commenting on the arrival of the new contractors, Chief Executive, Toby Lewis said: “We are delighted to enter this partnership with Balfour Beatty to take the important next steps in completing Midland Met. It has been sad to see the building standing paused for the last nine months, and so it is great news that work will shortly restart.

“We are grateful for the considerable support that we have had locally and nationally to move forward. We are investing in our existing buildings for the interim period but there is no doubt that a new single acute and emergency hospital in Smethwick is what the local NHS needs to provide the very best care. It also releases money to invest in primary care and mental health services. This news brings that transformation closer.”

Balfour Beatty’s early works contract is due to run until spring 2019 following which we hope to appoint a main contractor to complete the build.