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BUY LOCAL?

Last week, I came across an interesting FOI request on the Assembly's disclosure log.

Someone had made a request for information relating to the names of all the subcontractors for the new Welsh Assembly Government office at the former Hotpoint site in Llandudno Junction.

The main contractor for the £20 million contract is Cheshire-based Pochins PLC which stated back in January 2009 that they wanted to "to give local companies a fair crack of the whip. We don’t have a North Wales office but our heart is in North Wales.”

The full list of subcontractors involved in the construction project is provided below and you can judge for yourselves what has actually happened. Unfortunately, due to FOI rules, there is no value attached to each subcontract.

You may also want to read the following article from Contract Journal which demonstrates how the Welsh Assembly Government's procurement rules are precluding local firms from bidding for contracts.

List of subcontractors for new WAG North Wales Building

AAC Waterproofing Ltd, Anglesey
Achnashean Fencing Ltd, Bangor
Austin Smith:Lord, Liverpool
Bretton, Chester
Craftwork Services Ltd, Uttoxeter
Carillion Specialist Services Ltd, Leeds
Carrino Access Flooring Ltd, Eaton Socon
Carlton Building Services, Bolton
Celtic Security Service Ltd, Caernarfon
Cerrig Ltd, Pwllheli
C&C Baseline, Wigan
Clive May Brickwork Ltd, Mold
Collier & Henry Concrete Floors Ltd, Manchester
Combined Catering Services Ltd, Liverpool
Considerate Constructors, Ware
Core Utility Solutions, Warrington
Curvasure, Colwyn Bay
Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, Abergele
Engineering Design and Logistics Ltd, Bolton
Fire Management Ltd, Shrewsbury
Food Ventilation Consultants, Newbury
Fulcrum Infrastructures Service Ltd, Rotherham
Gunnebo (UK) Ltd, Wolverhampton
GW Jones Carpentry and Joinery, Llangollen
Hard Hat Logistics Ltd, Birkenhead
HRS Services, Sheffield
Kone, Chertsey
Levolux AT Ltd, Gloucester
Lanes Group Plc, Bretton
Lester Fabrications and Cladding Co Ltd, Buckley
Louvre Sol, St Helens
Moore Bros Tiling, Holywell
Movawall System, London
MG Ceilings and Linings Ltd, Bootle
Mona F&T Co Ltd, Anglesey
Ombler Williams,Llandudno
Openreach BT, Sheffield
Owen & Palmer Ltd, Bangor
Parry Bowen, Burntwood
Propaint Painting and Decorating Contractors,Rhyl
Ross Hughes Flooring, Caernarfon
Rotary North West Ltd, Chester
RS Scaffolding Erection Services Ltd, Colwyn Bay
Sapoflow Ltd, Barnsley
Scorpio Signs Ltd, Northwich
SI Sealey and Associates Ltd, Stockport
Sheildcom, Liverpool
Sol Acoustic, Manchester
Solway, Cumnock
Scottish Power Systems, Glasgow
Tarways Ashphalte, Liverpool
TBS Fabrications, Manchester
Tier Consult Ltd, Chester
Thomas Plant Hire Ltd, Holywell
Wright Landscapes, Mold
WYG Engineering Ltd, Leeds

Comments

Anonymous said…
So less than a third of the contracts awarded by Pochin went to North wales companies with the rest going largely to North West English companies.

What does WAG have to say about that after guaranteeing that this would benefit local companies?
January 12, 2010 9:54 am
Watching with Interest said…
I am sure if you put in FOIs to the Local Auhorities and other departments you would find the same pattern.
Merthyr is known for letting consultancy to London and other English based companies and ignoring well qualified and experience local ones - even small contracts of around £9K Its killing the small independants
HOV evaluation has gone over the border
Where is policy now
January 12, 2010 2:44 pm
Anonymous said…
According to the Contract Journal article

"Local contractors want to see Welsh authorities follow the example of the North West of England where large framework deals have been "un-bundled" to allow small firms to bid. The lower contract values also mean many deals will be outside EU procurement rules which mean they must be advertised across Europe".

So companies in the North West of England get access to their own local contracts AND can get hold of those in Wales through the current system.

How can that be fair?
January 12, 2010 4:00 pm
Anonymous said…
This is just so bad ,support local firms eh
I think this should be looked at across Wales
WAG should view all the procurement policies of publically funded organisations, including councils and see if the law and the letter of the law applies
January 12, 2010 5:33 pm
Anonymous said…
thought that was quite a high level of local companies for this scale of contract tbh; also, I actually thought Pochins was a North Wales based company...silly me...but they do employ a lot of north walians.

Noted all consultancies are england based.

Some of the local contractors noted there have decent sized contracts.

Mr Logical
January 12, 2010 7:05 pm
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