The multi-million pound contract awarded to offsite construction specialists, Premier Modular, to provide bespoke modular buildings for COVID-19 testing has been doubled to 50 sites across the UK.
In the last three months, Premier says it has invested £7 m in its hire fleet to meet the increasing demand for its modular buildings in the healthcare, infrastructure, education, and construction sectors. The fleet’s size allows a rapid response for major contracts. The extension of the modular building contract for COVID-19 testing follows the success of the first phase awarded to the company by the Department of Health and Social Care for an initial 25 sites, spread geographically from Inverness to Portsmouth. This major national project was procured through the Crown Commercial Service.
Since the first project was delivered in Bolton, Premier has set up standalone community testing sites in towns and cities across the country including Inverness, Leamington Spa, Dudley, Nottingham, Aylesbury, Buxton, and Liverpool. The next batch of sites will be in Leeds, Redcar, Durham, and Oadby in Leicestershire.
David Harris, Premier Modular’s MD, said: “The phenomenal work our teams have carried out across the country and round the clock has been very well received in those communities. Our colleagues continue to pull out all the stops in the factory and on site to set up the testing sites in just two to three days – an outstanding achievement given the buildings’ bespoke nature and the complexity of the site requirements. We are delighted this work has been recognised with the doubling of our contract to 50 sites.”
Premier, which manufactures the test buildings to order, has implemented an entire extra shift working through the night at its modular building factory in East Yorkshire to meet the unprecedented lead times required. Each standalone test site has a 110 m2 purpose-designed testing building pre-fitted with eight patient cubicles, hygienic walls, separate staff entrance and exit, test collection and drop-off zones, and a family testing room. Its s contract also includes the supply of welfare facilities in three buildings to accommodate a PPE room, stores, test preparation, staff rest room, kitchenette, and toilets, as well as essential services – water supply, effluent collection, and electricity generators.