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Kier takes on 200 Carillion employees for HS2 and Highways England contracts

Following the Carillion collapse, the construction group Kier has announced it will be taking up work left by the liquidated company and offering more than 200 of its workers opportunities to come on board. 

Carillion's partners on projects are now picking up its share of the work in contracts for HS2 and Highways England. Following discussions with the government and clients, Kier and French construction group Eiffage are now 50/50 partners in delivering two of the seven HS2 civil engineering projects - C2 and C3.  

A total of 51 Carillion employees, including apprentices, working on the HS2 project have been offered the opportunity to join either company. Another 150 Carillion workers on smart motorways schemes have also been offered jobs with Kier, after the construction group announced it had assumed "full responsibility" for the Highways England smart motorway schemes. 

Commenting on the joint venture contracts, Kier’s chief executive Haydn Mursell, said: “We have been working collaboratively with our clients and are pleased to have reached agreement with government. We have been able to take action quickly and reassure the project teams that they continue to play an important role in the delivery of these contracts.”

Mark Thurston, chief executive of HS2 Ltd has also welcomed today’s announcement. “Through this difficult time the team has continued to deliver and we’re grateful for their ongoing hard work and dedication,” Thurston added. “No time delays or costs implication have come about as a result of the events of this week, underlining the strength of the joint venture approach taken by HS2 in procuring its partners.”

Following the acquisition of McNicholas in July 2017, Kier has also revealed it has been awarded a number of contract extensions worth £140m. The extensions include a five-year £31m "Gas to the West" network distribution operation for SGN Natural Gas in Northern Ireland, a £40m extension to 2022 to the Phoenix Natural Gas contract also in Northern Ireland, and a one-year £30m extension to 2020 for the Network Rail CP5 high voltage and electrification and plant framework. 

Mursell added: “The McNicholas acquisition is performing well, providing a highly complementary addition to our utilities services business, and the Public Health England award reflects our growing presence in the bioscience market.”

If you would like to contact Ryan Tute about this, or any other story, please email rtute@infrastructure-intelligence.com.