Interserve wins St Helens BSF

The Interserve-led consortium Environments for Learning has won a £150m contract to undertake a major schools development programme for St Helens Council.

Under the Building Schools for the Future initiative, Interserve will build two schools, with a capital cost of £47m, in the first phase: Rainford High Technology College and De La Salle School. Rainford will be financed using the private finance initiative funding and Interserve will provide facilities management services worth £8m to the school over a 25-year period once complete.

Six further schools have been identified for subsequent development costing £100m. Two of these will be procured through PFI.

Interserve told the London Stock Exchange today it planned to reach financial close on the contract in the autumn and construction would begin immediately afterwards. The first schools will be ready to accept pupils for the start of the academic year in September 2012.

Adrian Ringrose, Interserve's chief executive, said: "St Helens Council has clearly shown its commitment to providing children in the area with the latest educational facilities, and we will play our part in ensuring that the schools we build will deliver the benefits the community needs. This is our third such development programme, alongside Sandwell in the West Midlands and our award-winning partnership at Leeds."

Interserve already has experience in the Merseyside town, recently building the new town centre campus for St Helens College.