Costain鈥檚 education business has been hit by the departure of its director 鈥渢o pursue other opportunities鈥.
Jeremy Eavis had been at the contractor for five years. He was previously a regional director at the company, before being appointed education director.
It is understood that a replacement for Eavis has not yet been found, although the company expects to make an appointment imminently.
Education became a key area for the company after its March 2006 restructuring. This was initiated by Andrew Wyllie, Costain鈥檚 chief executive, after problems that led to a pre-tax loss of 拢61.7m in the year ending 31 December 2006. The loss was due in part to a 拢11.9m writedown in its building division, and losses in and the closure of its international division at a cost of 拢27.3m.
The aim of the restructuring was to focus the business around markets rather than regions. Those targeted included education, health and retail, and PFI projects in the water and roads sectors.
Costain鈥檚 schools work includes a PFI contract for the south London borough of Lewisham under the 好色先生TV Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, where it is working with VT Education and Skills as the part of the Learning 21 consortium.
Jeremy Eavis has left to pursue other opportunities costain
The first phase of capital works is worth 拢56m to Costain and subsequent phases are expected to be worth about 拢210m.
The firm has also won work on the 拢400m Bradford BSF programme. Its first three schools were worth more than 拢70m.
The firm is thought to be interested in bidding for a place on the government鈥檚 city academies framework, to be set up early next year.
The framework, which presently contains six contractors, will expand to 10 firms to cope with a 拢4bn pipeline of work.
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