Major contractors BAM, Galliford Try, ISG, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Morgan Sindall and Willmott Dixon, have invited 200 local firms to a supply chain management event next week. Tony McDonough reports

Hundreds of smaller sub-contractor are being invited to bid for a slice of £1bn of regeneration work taking place in Liverpool.

Major contractors, including BAM, Galliford Try, ISG, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Morgan Sindall, Willmott Dixon, have invited 200 local firms to a supply chain management event at Liverpool Town Hall on Tuesday, September 19.

They comprise the Liverpool Regeneration Contractors’ Group and representatives from the city council’s procurement team and employment arm, Liverpool in Work, will also be present.

They will inform local businesses about opportunities over the next 12 months, showcasing projects such as new schools, hospitals, Lime Street and Paddington Village, part of the Knowledge Quarter Liverpool scheme.

Deputy Mayor, Cllr Ann O’Byrne, who will attend the event, said: “This is a hugely exciting time for the city’s regeneration and it is absolutely vital we help local firms secure sub-contracting work by putting them in the same room as the construction companies.

“We have had great success in insisting that firms we issue contracts to meet tough targets around local spending and with some of our new schools more than 85% of the contract has been spent with firms based in the city region, securing their future and enabling them to take on more staff.

“At a time when public sector funding is being squeezed massively, it is more essential than ever that the money we spend is pumped back into the local economy, putting money into the pockets of local workers.”