The Ministry of Defence has announced that a consortium named C2C has been awarded Preferred Bidder status for the third and final element of one of its most significant Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects.

C2C – comprising Severn Trent plc, Costain Ltd, Ove Arup and Partners International Ltd – will now tackle Package C of Project Aquatrine, a geographic grouping of the North and East of England.

Project Aquatrine, the largest Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project in the British water industry, sees the transfer of responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the Ministry’s water and waste water assets and infrastructure in Great Britain to private sector providers.

The object is to allow the MOD to better focus its resources and expertise in the military sphere.

Defence minister Ivor Caplin said: “The announcement of C2C as Preferred Bidder for Aquatrine Package C is a significant milestone, not only for the project team, whose continued dedication and hard work have made this announcement possible in such a short period of time following the award of Package A in April this year.

“It is also a milestone for Defence Estates and the MOD as a whole, who continue to be committed to transferring this non-core activity and the associated environmental risk to those in the private sector who are better placed to manage it.

“The project team are confident that C2C have demonstrated within their bid, both the expertise and innovative thinking needed to ensure that best value for money can be achieved while meeting environmental standards.

“This will allow the assets within the North and East of England to be strategically managed on a corporate basis rather than the disparate site-by-site basis as was previously the case.”

Under the terms of the 25-year contract, C2C will provide water and waste water services to more than 2,000 MOD sites in the North and East of the country, including several major bases such as RAF Marham and the Army garrisons at Catterick and Aldershot..

The contract is expected to go live in September of next year. Package A, covering the Midlands, Wales and South-West England, was awarded in April of this year. Scotland is covered by Package B.