DA from NEPO212 for Billingham Sport Hub, Mechanical & Electrical Engineer

In January 2024 Alliance Leisure Services Limited, who are the Development Partner on the UK Leisure Framework, were appointed after being recommended as an appropriate and compliant delivery route by the Football Foundation. The UK Leisure Framework allows for direct appointment of the professional team and main contractor and as such, Universal Group were appointed to design and construct Billingham Sports Hub.

The outcome of this means an alternative procurement route is sought and it is now essential that the shortcomings identified during the initial commission are not repeated through this new prcurement exercise. The proposed procurement approach has been specifically chosen to strengthen quality assurance, improve design coordination, and provide greater oversight throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring a more robust and deliverable outcome.

It is necessary to appoint a suitably qualified and experienced multidisciplinary consultant team to develop, coordinate and finalise the technical design, ensuring a fully integrated and deliverable scheme across the site. Given the complexity of both the project and the site, it is essential that the appointed consultants demonstrate strong design coordination and project integration capabilities, with a proven track record of successfully delivering complex schemes with the Council. These skills and experience were not sufficiently evident within the previous procurement arrangement and are therefore a critical requirement for the re-procurement process to ensure a coordinated, robust and deliverable design solution.