Crossrail supply chain contracts up for grabs

Website automatically matches suppliers with potential opportunities

Crossrail are urging businesses around the UK to bid for work on the project. They say that the majority of supply chain contracts have not yet been awarded and the main contractors still need to buy a wide range of goods, works and services.

To help businesses looking for work, Crossrail have launched a three point plan. This includes a website that automatically matches suppliers with suitable opportunities. The site, called CompeteFor, also allows suppliers to apply for contracts quickly and easily.

Other measures include flagging up the suppliers section of the Crossrail website, which features an up-to-date summary of direct contracts that have been awarded, and a supplier guide for businesses.

Crossrail has so far awarded £5.5 billion worth of contracts. The deals have created at least 75,000 business opportunities for contractors and their supply chain, new figures have revealed.

Across the project and supply chain, Crossrail estimate that the amount of work generated by the venture is equivalent to 55,000 full-time jobs.

More than 40% of businesses winning work are based outside of London and the South East and almost 60% of supply chain contracts have gone to small and medium sized businesses.

Some of the companies that have won contracts on Crossrail to date:

• Express Reinforcements, Neath, south Wales.
  The firm manufactures steel cages to reinforce concrete that have been used at ten Crossrail sites. The work has resulted in the creation of 80 temporary jobs and many more have been preserved.

• Street Crane Co Ltd, High Peak, Derbyshire.
  The firm has manufactured and installed ten cranes on the Crossrail project. The cranes weigh in at 180 tonnes with an equivalent overall length of 19 double decker buses end-to-end. Up to 60 employees were involved in the Crossrail contracts.

• Cleveland Bridge, Darlington, County Durham.
  The company has supplied Crossrail with 2,500 tonnes of steel, which has gone to Bond Street and Canary Wharf stations.