{"id":529598,"date":"2025-09-26T12:45:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T11:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=529598"},"modified":"2025-09-26T12:44:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T11:44:14","slug":"graham-walks-away-from-southport-events-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/buildings\/graham-walks-away-from-southport-events-centre-26-09-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Graham walks away from Southport events centre\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Graham Construction has walked away from a job building a new events centre in Southport, months after the client decided not to appoint its previous preferred contractor.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Sefton Council <a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/contractors\/kier-set-to-build-73m-southport-events-centre-27-03-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">appointed Kier as preferred bidder<\/a> to demolish the Southport Theatre &amp; Convention Centre and replace it with a new events centre, the Marine Lake Event Campus (MLEC), featuring a 1,500-person capacity theatre, a 1,500 square metre exhibition hall and a break-out space for up to 800 people.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But Sefton Council said that following \u201ccommercial negotiations\u201d, it decided not to enter into a main contract with Kier after its preconstruction services agreement ended.<\/p>\n<p>It appointed DSM to carry out demolition and enabling works in early 2024, with Graham appointed as preferred bidder in January.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>However, according to a council report published this week, in April Graham \u201cconfirmed that it will not build to the agreed details on MLEC\u201d, despite having helped carry out detailed cost work and RIBA Stage Four design work.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The scheme has a \u00a373m price tag, which includes \u00a337.5m provided by central government, and is aimed at attracting visitors to Southport.<\/p>\n<p>The council is now in discussions with three firms to become main contractor on the project.<\/p>\n<p>It said each had confirmed interest in building the scheme \u201cbased on the programme and Gardiner &amp; Theobald cost estimates\u201d.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The council added: \u201cWhile all three contractors indicate construction costs that exceed the council\u2019s previously approved budget for the project, the savings of time and money compared to the current preconstruction services agreement are significant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the report, which was published ahead of Sefton Council\u2019s Cabinet meeting next Thursday (2 October), council officers said they planned to proceed with a main construction contract from March 2026 after preconstruction works are completed.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>They added that an exact cost increase \u201ccannot be confirmed\u201d but said \u201ccost escalation far exceeds the potential savings via value engineering without materially impacting on the size [and] quality of the building\u201d.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The papers noted the construction industry has suffered \u201cenormous impacts of unprecedented inflationary rates and significant market pressures including Covid-19, the Ukraine\/Russia conflict [and] Brexit\u201d.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the outset, the project team have continually and creatively evolved the scheme without any material detriment to the quality or scale, it has battled through multiple challenges to get back on budget at each design stage,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA substantial amount of further value engineering was taken and incorporated into the project at the end of the design phase, including considerable design amendments to the building\u2019s fa\u00e7ade [\u2026] plus internal finishes, external landscaping and substantial MEP value engineering.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The document says DSM has now demolished the Southport Theatre &amp; Convention Centre and is working on installation of sheet piling, although another \u2500 as yet unselected \u2500 subcontractor will have to install an access ramp from the Upper Promenade before the main construction work can begin.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The MLEC is planned for a site by the man-made Marine Lake and will include a water and light show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Graham Construction has walked away from a job building a new events centre in Southport, months after the client decided not to appoint its previous preferred contractor.\u00a0 In 2023, Sefton Council appointed Kier as preferred bidder to demolish the Southport Theatre &amp; Convention Centre and replace it with a new events centre, the Marine Lake &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90383,"featured_media":529620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[547,536],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-529598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buildings","category-kier"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.7 (Yoast SEO v26.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Graham walks away from Southport events centre\u00a0 | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Graham Construction has walked away from a job building a new events centre in Southport, months after the client decided not to appoint its previous\" \/>\n<meta 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