Government owned pre-qualification vetting service to be privatised
The government has put construction supplier database Constructionline up for sale.
It is seeking expressions of interest from private sector investors in buying the service that was launched in 1998 to help SME construction firms find work more easily.
The service collates information on firms鈥� health and safety records; technical ability and financial performance to ease the burden of completing pre-qualification questionnaires for jobs, a process that hits small and medium sized businesses particularly hard because they often have less capacity to deal with it.
The service, which holds data on 22,000 construction industry suppliers, is currently operated by consultant Capita but owned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS).
The government said that commercial ownership of Constructionline would allow the service to 鈥済row and achieve its full potential鈥�.
A spokesperson for DBIS said now was the time to 鈥渆nable it [Constructionline] to expand further to meet the needs of a changing industry鈥�.
They said: 鈥淕aining access to private capital will enable Constructionline to become even more competitive and branch out into new markets.
鈥淏ids will be welcomed from buyers who plan to grow the services provided by Constructionline.鈥�
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