Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude met with 34 companies including Interserve, Balfour Beatty and Carillion earlier this week in a move to renegotiate contracts they hold with central government, according to Construction News.
The summit followed a previous set of negotiations with 19 other suppliers over the summer, mainly in the facilities management and communications sector, and form part of the coalition government’s austerity drive.
In a statement, Maude said: “Although renegotiating contracts in this way had never been done by government before, it has proved to be a success for all sides involved, particularly the taxpayer.
“Several Memoranda of Understanding have already been signed and we expect more to be signed over the coming weeks. When this first process is complete it is likely to deliver savings running into hundreds of millions of pounds.
“But, it’s not just about the money and that is one of the reasons why we have launched this new phase, involving around 30 more suppliers today.
“It is about changing the way government does business over the long term. During this stage of the process we’re going to be looking really closely at the way companies provide services to government and at what we can do to ensure we establish government as a single, more efficient customer.”
Other construction-related companies on the list include construction and support services company Interserve, facilities manager Mitie, and consulting engineers Atkins and Mott Macdonald.
The list also included management consultants, accountants and law firms.
