Vinci has kicked off a £90m town centre regeneration near Liverpool after selecting three firms for enabling works.
The first suppliers on the St Helens town centre regeneration all have bases in or near the borough.
Ayesa, which has offices in a St Helens Business Park, will will investigate the site’s geology to inform the foundation designers by drilling rotary boreholes 30 metres into the ground.
A&B Engineering, based in east Liverpool, is providing early specialist contractor involvement for mechanical and engineering systems, including heating, ventilation, air conditions, lighting, and power and water supply.
HA Civils, which is headquartered in the nearby town of Prescot, will build a temporary bus station while a multi-transport hub is constructed to replace the existing bus station.
The project, due for completion in 2026, will demolish a 40-year-old shopping centre to make way for a market hall, 120-bedroom hotel, 64 homes and 1,020 square metres of retail space. It marks the first phase of a 20-year regeneration of the Merseyside town, which has a population of 137,000.
When it won the project last September, CN100 firm Vinci pledged to use companies within the borough, buy locally and create skills, training and employment opportunities for local people.
St Helens Borough councillor Richard McCauley said there would be more opportunities for local firms to bid for packages as the scheme progresses.
He added: “We are determined to make sure the programme of work creates social value outcomes through jobs, training and skills opportunities in accordance with our inclusive growth strategy.”
St Helens Borough Council is delivering the scheme alongside the English Cities Fund (ECF), a partnership of government homebuilding agency Homes England, investor Legal & General, and Morgan Sindall’s development arm Muse.
Muse senior project manager Chris Bishop said the development partners shared a commitment to benefitting local firms and the wider community, making it a “contractual obligation” when procuring Vinci to deliver the first phase of the scheme.
He added: “From our perspective, ECF has decades of experience when it comes to shaping and progressing regeneration programmes so that social value is at the forefront of decision-making.
“That’s starting to happen now with these early-stage contract awards and will remain a priority throughout.”
