Galliford Try wins £160m schools contract under new government model

Galliford Try has closed on a £160m contract under the government’s new private finance aggregator model to build schools in the North East and North Wales.

The contract with the Education Funding Agency over the priority school building programme batch for north-east England and with Flintshire Council for the Holywell learning campus in North Wales.

The deal marks the first batch funded by the government’s new private finance aggregator model. It is worth more than £103m plus £56.6m through a 25-year maintenance and lifecycle contract with Guilford Try’s facilities management business.

Building facilities to benefit more than 8,350 students across the region and provide 188 nursery school places, the programme will also construct six new secondary schools and six new primary schools.

Galliford Try executive chairman Greg Fitzgerald said: "It is tremendous news for our business to have reached financial close on these two significant education contracts.

“Our ability to conclude the contract with the EFA successfully demonstrates the strength of our Investments business in offering innovative solutions to unlock projects, while the Holywell contract is proof of our excellent construction offering in education and our growing prominence in the North Wales market."

An additional £26m contract has been signed with Flintshire Council, according to an investor note released on Wednesday, to build the Holywell learning campus in North Wales as part of the Welsh government’s 21st century schools programme.