Bidding starts for £4.5bn Southern Construction Framework

Procurement group Southern Construction Framework has called up firms to bid for places on its £4.5bn fifth-generation panel.
Nine winners of the previous three-year deal now face a fight to retain their places.
They include previous newcomers Sir Robert McAlpine and Mace, alongside regular winners BAM, Galliford Try, ISG, Kier, Morgan Sindall, Wates and Willmott Dixon.
The latest framework is seeking to encourage regional contractors with an additional lower value lot for the South West,