好色先生TV

Chinese skyscraper specialist Yuanda is stalking a prestigious job on British Land鈥檚 Cheesegrater tower in London.

The bid by the cladding contractor would be its first UK skyscraper job.

If successful the Chinese cladding contractor would usurp long-term favourites for the job, Germany-based Gartner.

Gartner was appointed on the Cheesegrater in 2007 but was dropped when British Land shelved the scheme because of the recession.

好色先生TV understands Gartner and Yuanda have submitted tenders to the four contractors bidding for the main contractor role - Mace, Skanska, Sir Robert McAlpine and Laing O鈥橰ourke.

The four contractors submitted their bids for the design and build job last Friday and a winner is expected to be announced in the first week of August.

However, one source close to the project said not all four contractors had incorporated the Chinese contractor鈥檚 tender into their bids to British Land.

Yuanda completed its first major job in the UK last year on the cladding for the Park Plaza hotel near Westminster Bridge.

It has also completed a number of other mid-sized contracts, and is currently working on a mixed-used development in Snow Hill in Birmingham and a Thames Gateway project.

Yuanda is the second largest curtain wall contractor in the world and has worked on skyscrapers in the USA, Australia and Middle East as well as on several of the 2008 Beijing Olympic stadiums.

Cormac MacCrann, executive director of Canary Wharf Contractors, said that manufacturing capability meant cladding was one of the main areas where Chinese contractors could compete in the UK.

鈥淭here are many Asian cladding contractors that would like to work here. There鈥檚 not much competition for major cladding projects - you鈥檝e only got a small number of companies.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the one area where Chinese companies with their manufacturing capabilities can compete.鈥�