Premier's contract to provide modular buildings for COVID-19 testing is doubled

Published: 27-Nov-2020

The multi-million pound contract awarded to Premier Modular, one of the UK’s leading offsite construction specialists, to provide bespoke modular buildings for Covid19 testing has been doubled to 50 sites across the UK

In the last three months, Premier has invested £7m in its hire fleet to meet the increasing demand for its modular buildings in the healthcare, infrastructure, education and construction sectors. The size of its hire fleet allows a rapid response for major contracts such as the Covid19 testing project.

The extension of the modular building contract for Covid19 testing follows the success of the first phase awarded to Premier by the Department of Health and Social Care for an initial 25 sites from Inverness to Portsmouth. This major national project is supporting the Government in increasing testing capacity in the current pandemic and was procured through the Crown Commercial Service.

Since the first project was delivered in Bolton, Premier has now 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, Managing Director of Premier Modular, said “The work our teams have carried out across the country and round the clock has been phenomenal and 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 which really is an outstanding achievement given the bespoke nature of the buildings and the complexity of the site requirements. We are delighted this work has been recognised with the doubling of our contract to 50 sites.”

“Our teams remain totally committed to playing their part in the national effort to support the Government in rapidly increasing Covid19 testing capabilities. This is a vital initiative to help safeguard public health. This contract also demonstrates just how responsive modular construction can be when combined with strong project management and logistical operations to help the NHS respond to urgent local needs.”

Premier manufactures the test buildings to order and has put in place an entire extra shift working through the night at its modular building factory in East Yorkshire to meet the unprecedented lead times required for this contract.

Each standalone test site has a 110sqm 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.

Premier’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.

The hiring of modular accommodation is a fast, flexible and cost-effective way to expand capacity or relocate services, particularly on constrained urban sites. Temporary modular solutions give service providers greater flexibility as the facilities can be dismantled and removed when local needs change.

Modular buildings to accommodate wards, health centres and ancillary services can be delivered in a fraction of the time of a site-based construction solution. Critically, purpose-designed and permanent facilities can be installed on hospital or city centre sites with far less disruption to the local community.

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