The Specialist Engineering Contractors (SEC) Group has offered an enthusiastic welcome to the procurement strategies being adopted
on what has been described as 'the largest construction project since the Channel Tunnel'.
The £15.9bn project being undertaken by Crossrail will provide London and the South East with a high-frequency rail link.

From 2017, trains will travel from Heathrow Airport in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, via twin tunnels running under the West End, the City of London and Canary Wharf.

The positive strategies referred to by SEC Group include use of the NEC3 contract - which demands 'proactive management of the delivery process' - and project bank accounts, which have the potential to provide security of payment to all parties to a construction project.

'We are delighted that Crossrail is taking such an enlightened approach to procurement - an approach that promotes teamworking and the early engagement with the supply chain, where most of the value lies,' said SEC Group president Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan.

'As a result, SEC Group has offered Crossrail its help and support, especially in reducing waste in the delivery process, and wants to work closely with the company to help achieve its overall objectives.'