The new contracts cover design and specialist services for the government hubs and Whitehall campus programmes as well as a variety of client-funded projects.
Following a procurement process via the Crown Commercial Services estates management services framework, Canadian-owned WSP has been awarded the design services element and US-firm Tetra Tech has been awarded the specialist services.
WSP and Tetra Tech will now work with the Government Property Agency (GPA), a branch of the Cabinet Office, to “add value through a smaller, better and greener public estate”.
The contracts are for an initial four-year term, with up to three-year extension options.
Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said: “The GPA has a pivotal role to play in the government’s wider civil service transformation agenda, creating more productive and efficient workplaces for the civil servants who are working tirelessly to address some of the biggest challenges facing our country.
“It is vital that the GPA draws on the talent of specialist expertise in order to develop innovative solutions, ensuring the GPA delivers on its commitments, while also ensuring best value for taxpayer money.”
GPA director of capital projects Clive Anderson said: “Our newly-appointed strategic partners will provide the GPA with industry-leading professional services support for up to seven years, enabling more efficient project delivery, greater value for money across the most diverse and challenging real estate programmes in the UK.”
Justifying the preference for the North American firms over British-owned companies, he said that WSP and Tetra Tech scored highly on social value, a concept originally introduced to procurement scoring for the specific purpose of supporting smaller local firms over big multi-nationals.
“Social value was a key element within this tender process, with a focus on tackling economic inequality through the creation of employment, training and growth in all regions of the UK,” Anderson said.
Both firms do have an established UK presence at least with 14% of WSP’s 66,000 employees based in the UK and 18% of Tetra Tech’s 27,000 employees in Europe (including the UK).
WSP chief strategy officer Paul Tremble said: “At a time when driving sustainable economic growth across the UK is so important, we look forward to deploying the breadth of our design and engineering expertise to support the GPA’s delivery of a greener and more efficient public estate.”
Tetra Tech regional president Craig Hatch said: “We will bring specialist techniques in secure buildings, heritage estates, net zero and decarbonisation.”
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