Construction Works for the Advance Manufacturing and Innovation District Scotland South
Renfrewshire Council · 11 September 2025
Back to Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board — 11 September 2025 and its agenda
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___________________________________________________________________ To: Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board On: 11 September 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: The Chief Executive and the Director of Finance and Resources ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Contract Award: Construction Works for the Advance Manufacturing and Innovation District Scotland South (AMIDS-S) Project (RC-CPU- 22-352) ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The purpose of this report is to notify the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board of the award of a Contract for Construction Works for the Advance Manufacturing and Innovation District Scotland South (AMIDS-S) Project (RC-CPU-22-352) to Northstone (NI) Limited, trading as Farrans Construction. 1.2 The Contract was awarded following a procurement process conducted in accordance with the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and the Council’s Standing Orders relating to Contracts 1 January 2024. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 The Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board is asked to note: 2.1.1. The detail in section 3 of this report for the Contract for the Construction Works for the Advance Manufacturing and Innovation District Scotland South (AMIDS-S) Project (RC-CPU-22-352) approved for award under delegated authority to the Chief Executive by the Council on 26 June 2025.
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2.1.2. The Contract was awarded to Northstone (NI) Limited, trading as Farrans Construction. 2.1.3. The total of the Prices of £34,714,649.54 excluding VAT. 2.1.4. A contingency spend of £4,314,978.56 excluding VAT, which equates to 12.43% of the total of the Prices. 2.1.5. A total Approved Contract Value of £39,029,628.10 (which is the total of the Prices plus the contingency spend). 2.1.6. The Contract Award was 14 August 2025, the starting date is 14 September 2025, and the completion date is 130 weeks from the starting date. The Contract includes a key date for completion of the works contained in the East-West Link 1 component (which includes the access road to the new Paisley Grammar School Community Campus) by 30 June 2026. 2.1.7. The Contractor’s liability to the Council in accordance with the published terms detailed in 3.22 of the Report is limited for each of the following: 2.1.7.1. Contractor’s liability to the Client (Council) for indirect or consequential loss is limited to an amount equivalent to 5% of the total of the Prices at Contract Award. 2.1.7.2. Contractor’s total liability to the Client for all matters arising under or in connection with the contract, other than excluded matters, is limited to an amount equivalent to 50% of the total of the Prices at Contract Award. 2.1.7.3. The Contractor’s liability for Defects due to Contractor design which have not been listed on the Defects Certificate is limited to £10,000,000 for each and every claim. 2.1.8. The Contractor is required to provide a Performance Bond, in the form contained in the Final Invitation to Tender, within 4 weeks of Contract Award. 2.1.9. The Contractor is required to provide an Advance Payment Bond, in the form contained in the Final Invitation to Tender, prior to the Council making any payment for bridge materials and fabrication off Site. _________________________________________________________
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3. Background 3.1 The AMIDS South project was awarded £38.7m from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund, with the Council committing £18.8m, to create a new road bridge across Paisley Harbour, a 1.7km gateway route along the White Cart river and a network of roads, cycling, wheeling and walking links from the town centre train station and bus interchange to AMIDS, Glasgow Airport and Inchinnan. 3.2 In addition, a new east-west link road from Renfrew Road to the new bridge crossing will be created, which will connect into the new Paisley Grammar School Community Campus, as will dedicated walking and cycling routes. Additionally, a safe access route from Gallowhill using the underpass on the former railway line will be constructed using an additional £1.5m provided by Transport Scotland. 3.3 The works to be undertaken in the awarded contract include, but are not limited to: • A 93 meter span steel arch road bridge crossing at Paisley Harbour for pedestrians, cyclists and road traffic; • Upgraded and improved road infrastructure which includes new cycle routes and landscaping from Paisley town centre along Abercorn Street, Harbour Road and Inchinnan Road to the manufacturing district (AMIDS); • An east-west road link from Renfrew Road joining onto the new gateway route, increasing connectivity to the manufacturing district and improving access to the proposed new Paisley Grammar School Community Campus. • Improved walking and cycling routes on Greenock Road between Inchinnan Business Park and AMIDS 3.4 At the Council meeting on 26 June 2025, Elected Members authorised the Chief Executive to award this Contract during recess and report back to the relevant board after recess. 3.5 The Contract was tendered as an above GPA Threshold Works Contract in accordance with the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation (CPN) under the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and the Council’s Standing Orders relating to Contracts 1 January 2024. 3.6 For this Contract a contract notice was dispatched via the Public Contracts Scotland advertising portal with the notice published by the
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Find a Tender Service (FTS) on 27 March 2024. The invitation to participate /documentation (ITP) was available for downloading from the Public Contracts Scotland – Tender portal from the same day. 3.7 During the ITP stage (Selection Stage), 17 organisations expressed an interest in the Contract. By the closing date set for submission, 12 noon on 03 May 2024, 3 Candidates had submitted a request to participate (RTP). 3.8 The RTPs were evaluated against a pre-determined set of criteria in the form of the Single Procurement Document Scotland (SPD) by representatives from the Council’s Corporate Procurement Unit and all 3 Candidates satisfied the Council’s minimum requirements within the SPD selection criteria. 3.9 As part of the selection process, and to reduce the number of otherwise qualified Candidates, in accordance with the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 Regulation 66, Candidates had to respond to questions relating to previous experience, technical capacity and capability with projects similar in nature, scope and scale to construction works for the AMIDS-S project. 3.10 A panel of representatives from the Renfrewshire Council’s City Deal project team and Amey OW Limited, the appointed lead consultant for the project, assessed the 3 Candidates responses to the questions. All Candidates were selected to proceed to the initial invitation to tender stage. 3.11 The selection score for each Candidate within the RTP stage is noted below: Candidate Score Northstone (NI) Limited trading as Farrans Construction 97.00% John Graham Construction Limited 80.50% RJ McLeod (Contractors) Ltd 53.50% 3.12 The initial Invitation to Tender (ITT) was made available for downloading by the 3 shortlisted Candidates via the Public Contracts Scotland -Tender portal on 28 January 2025. By the closing date and time of 02 May 2025 at 12 noon, 2 Candidates (then Tenderers) each submitted an initial tender response. 3.13 The 2 initial tender responses received were assessed against the published Award Criteria based on an overall weighting of 60% Price and 40% Quality by an evaluation panel which included members of the City Deal project team, Corporate Procurement Unit, and
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representatives from Amey OW Limited, the appointed lead consultant for the AMIDS-S project. 3.14 In the contract notice, the Council reserved the right to award the Contract following the initial tender stage or to conduct successive stages of negotiation and re-tender with one or more tenderers to improve tender responses with consideration to: • negotiation on the particular characteristics of the core and supplementary requirements, and • negotiation of the conditions of contract and risk allocation within the Contract. 3.15 The Council elected to invite the 2 Tenderers at initial tender stage to negotiation meetings in June 2025 and both Tenderers accepted the Council’s invitation to negotiate. 3.16 The negotiation phase was conducted in accordance with Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 (Regulation 30 ) and the Council ended the negotiation phase on 01 July 2025. 3.17 Subsequent to that negotiation, the Council issued a Final ITT via the Public Contract Scotland – Tender portal on 01 July 2025, inviting the 2 Tenderers to submit a final tender response. By the final tender submission deadline of 12 noon on 10 July 2025, 2 Tenderers had submitted a final tender. 3.18 The 2 final tenders received were assessed against the published Award Criteria by a suitably experienced panel which included members of the City Deal project team, Corporate Procurement Unit and representatives from Amey OW Limited, the appointed lead consultant for the project. The Tenderer’s scores relative to the Award Criteria are detailed in the table below: Tenderer Price Score Technical Score Total Score Northstone (NI) Limited trading as Farrans Construction 60.00% 40.00% 100.00% John Graham Construction Limited 58.03% 37.43% 95.46% 3.19 The evaluation of final tender responses identified that the Tender Submission by Northstone (NI) Limited trading as Farrans Construction was the most economically advantageous tender.
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3.20 The total contract approval value of £39,029,628.10 includes an allowance for quantified risks and an additional contingency as is prudent in construction contracts, which together total £4,314,978.56. 3.21 The form of contract is a NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract June 2017 edition (as amended January 2019, October 2020 and January 2023) Core clauses; (ii) the Option A clauses; (iii) the Option W2 dispute resolution clause; and (iv) the Secondary Option clauses X7 (Delay Damages) X13 (Performance Bond), X14 (Advance payment to the Contractor), X15 (Contractor’s Design), X16 (Retention), X18 (Limitation on Liability) and Y(UK)2, in each case as amended and/or supplemented by the additional conditions of contract under Option Z. 3.22 The Contract includes a 5% retention which will be released in stages until completion of the Contractor’s obligations under the Contract. 3.23 Community Benefits were requested as part of the procurement process and Northstone (NI) Limited trading as Farrans Construction have committed to delivering the following community benefits as part of the Contract: Community Benefit No. of People/ Activities Job for a young person (age 16-24) from a recognised priority group e.g. from the councils' most deprived data zones 3 Job for an unemployed individual 2 Modern Apprenticeship 2 Graduate 2 Work Experience Placement for an individual 16+ years of age 3 Work Experience Placement for an individual in full time education 4 S/NVQ (or equivalent) for • New Employee • Existing Employee • Supply Chain Employee 4 Industry Awareness Events • Schools • Invest in Renfrewshire – Employability • Further Education 6 Industry Skill Transfer to Schools. 2 Award of Local sub-contract(s) 4 Business advice/support to a local SME /Social Enterprise/ Voluntary organisation 3 Commitment to ensure that supply chain opportunities are prioritised for Renfrewshire based businesses 2 Financial Support for a Social Enterprise or other approved community initiative 9 Non-financial support for a Social Enterprise or other approved community initiative 8
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_________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – The total contract value up to £39,029,628.10 will be funded through the agreed Levelling Up funding package, as well as an approved Council contribution to the project, the funding of which is fully incorporated within the Council’s long-term financial planning arrangements (General Services Capital). 2. HR & Organisational Development – none directly arising from this report. 3. Community/Council Planning – Place – Working together to enhance wellbeing across community – the works contribute to improved strategic, gateway and local access connections and perceptions between: • Paisley Town Centre, • Paisley Gilmour Street, • AMIDS, /Glasgow Airport and • the neighbouring communities. Economy – building an inclusive, green and resilient economy: economic projections have estimated that the AMIDS South project and associated works could boost the local economy by an additional £136m, creating new job opportunities and helping existing and new companies to grow and expand. Fair – nurturing bright, happy and healthy futures for all – by providing improved access to AMIDS, the works will contribute to attracting and retaining an increased working age population in the local area and bringing high-quality jobs to Renfrewshire. Green – leading Renfrewshire to Net Zero – economic projections have estimated the AMIDS South project could cut carbon emissions by 21,700 tonnes. Living our values – making a difference together - Improving integration of the area and key institutions (such as West College Scotland, AMIDS): north and south of Paisley Gilmour Street and east and west of the White Cart.
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4. Legal – none directly arising from this report. 5. Property/Assets – creation of new infrastructure assets for the Council and enhancement in value and developability of land owned by the Council. 6. Information Technology – none directly arising from this report. 7. Equality & Human Rights – none directly arising from this report. 8. Health & Safety –Northstone (NI) Limited trading as Farrans Construction’s health and safety credentials were evaluated and meet the Council’s requirements regarding health and safety. 9. Procurement - The procurement procedures outlined within this report shall ensure the Council meets its statutory obligations in respect of the Public Contracts Scotland Regulations 2015, the Council's Standing orders Relating to Contracts and the Council's Financial Regulations. 10. Risk - Project specific and Programme level risk registers have been established. These will be kept under regular review and reported to the Council’s internal City Deal and Infrastructure Programme Board. The Contractor’s liability to the Client (the Council) for indirect or consequential loss is limited to an amount equivalent to 5% of the total of the Prices at Contract Award. The Contractor’s total liability to the Client for all matters arising under or in connection with the contract, other than excluded matters, is limited to an amount equivalent to 50% of the total of the Prices at Contract Award. The Contractor’s liability for Defects due to its design which have not been listed on the Defects Certificate is limited to £10,000,000 for each and every claim. Northstone (NI) Limited trading as Farrans Construction’s insurances have been assessed and it is confirmed that they have met the requirements regarding insurable risk of the contract. 11. Privacy Impact - none directly arising from this report. 12. Climate Risk – The level of impact associated with provision of these works has been assessed using the Scottish Government Sustainability Test and is considered High Risk.
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To mitigate against the High Risk, the works have been designed in accordance with the principles of PAS 2080 which aims to reduce embedded carbon within the project development. The Contractor is ISO14001 accredited. The Contractor is committed to working with the Council throughout the contract to support the Council to achieve Renfrewshire’s Net Zero Plan. 13. Children’s Rights – none directly arising from this report. 14. Cosla Policy Position – none directly arising from this report. _________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers a) Unaudited Annual Accounts 2024/25 and Interim Financial Update approved by the Council at its meeting on 26 June 2025. ___________________________________________________________________ Author: Rebecca Park, Strategic Category Manager – City Deal, rebecca.park@renfrewshire.gov.uk