Graham Construction has walked away from a job building a new events centre in Southport, months after the client decided not to appoint its previous preferred contractor.
In 2023, Sefton Council appointed Kier as preferred bidder to demolish the Southport Theatre & Convention Centre and replace it with a new events centre, the Marine Lake Event Campus (MLEC), featuring a 1,500-person capacity theatre, a 1,500 square metre exhibition hall and a break-out space for up to 800 people.
But Sefton Council said that following “commercial negotiations”, it decided not to enter into a main contract with Kier after its preconstruction services agreement ended.
It appointed DSM to carry out demolition and enabling works in early 2024, with Graham appointed as preferred bidder in January.
However, according to a council report published this week, in April Graham “confirmed that it will not build to the agreed details on MLEC”, despite having helped carry out detailed cost work and RIBA Stage Four design work.
The scheme has a £73m price tag, which includes £37.5m provided by central government, and is aimed at attracting visitors to Southport.
The council is now in discussions with three firms to become main contractor on the project.
It said each had confirmed interest in building the scheme “based on the programme and Gardiner & Theobald cost estimates”.
The council added: “While all three contractors indicate construction costs that exceed the council’s previously approved budget for the project, the savings of time and money compared to the current preconstruction services agreement are significant.”
In the report, which was published ahead of Sefton Council’s Cabinet meeting next Thursday (2 October), council officers said they planned to proceed with a main construction contract from March 2026 after preconstruction works are completed.
They added that an exact cost increase “cannot be confirmed” but said “cost escalation far exceeds the potential savings via value engineering without materially impacting on the size [and] quality of the building”.
The papers noted the construction industry has suffered “enormous impacts of unprecedented inflationary rates and significant market pressures including Covid-19, the Ukraine/Russia conflict [and] Brexit”.
“From the outset, the project team have continually and creatively evolved the scheme without any material detriment to the quality or scale, it has battled through multiple challenges to get back on budget at each design stage,” the report states.
“A substantial amount of further value engineering was taken and incorporated into the project at the end of the design phase, including considerable design amendments to the building’s façade […] plus internal finishes, external landscaping and substantial MEP value engineering.”
The document says DSM has now demolished the Southport Theatre & Convention Centre and is working on installation of sheet piling, although another ─ as yet unselected ─ subcontractor will have to install an access ramp from the Upper Promenade before the main construction work can begin.
The MLEC is planned for a site by the man-made Marine Lake and will include a water and light show.
