LEP event to bring businesses up to speed on HS2 procurement

30th April 2014

HS2 Ltd will be in the Sheffield City Region this week to speak to local businesses about supply chain opportunities that the multi-billion pound high speed rail project will bring.

The Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has been working with HS2 Ltd to organise the event and hopes it will ensure local business people are ready to be part of the supply chain for the £42.6 billion project. Simon Carr, Managing Director at Henry Boot Construction and LEP Board Member, said: -The LEP is working with HS2 Ltd to help make sure that local businesses are able to compete to be part of the supply chain for one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Europe. -This event offers local businesses the chance to get ready for the wide ranging opportunities which will be created by this massive project. -This event will be an excellent opportunity for local businesses to find out more about HS2 Ltd's procurement strategy and speak to the HS2 Ltd team face-to-face. HS2 Ltd Commercial Director, Beth West said: -HS2 offers this country a much needed chance to re-balance the economy, support hundreds of thousands of jobs and develop our national skills base. -Understanding and observing the market's current thoughts and opinions will play an important part in the development of our final procurement strategy for Phase One. -We are also keen to work with businesses who are not traditionally involved in the rail sector. These can bring best practice techniques and products to ensure the delivery of HS2. We look forward to engaging with businesses early on in the process and we would like to encourage them to engage with us too. The event will be held at the AMP Technology Centre in Rotherham and almost 100 delegates have signed up so far. This will be one of the most significant events to come to the Technology Centre since work to refurbish the conference facilities were completed earlier this month. John Palframan, AMP Technology Centre Manager, said: -I'm looking forward to seeing our state-of-the-art conference facilities in operation and welcoming a number of high profile business leaders to this High Speed Two event at the AMP Technology Centre. -I am sure that attendees will be interested to see the improvements and innovations we've made which will help the AMP Technology Centre to continue to be a top choice for high profile events like this in the Sheffield City Region. The HS2 Ltd Seminar will take place at the AMP Technology Centre in Rotherham on Wednesday 30 April from 10am 12.30pm. Tickets are free but places are limited to 150, so businesses are encouraged to register online as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. The website for registration is: http://hs2marketengagementsheffield.eventbrite.co.uk