G F Tomlinson celebrates 15 year partnership with Scape

Craig Stopper, Regional Construction framework Manager
at G F Tomlinson

We are celebrating a long established and successful partnership spanning over 15 years with Scape – the UK’s leading procurement authority.

Scape is a public sector organisation, working with a large number of businesses in the construction sector to provide works in the built environment to key clients – dedicated to creating efficiency and social value.

Having delivered an impressive 500+ projects to date, with a total value of circa £248 million, across the East Midlands through Scape’s frameworks; empa, empaii and the Regional Construction framework, we are proud to have also generated a notable £34.5 million in social value through our regional projects.

Serving the North Midlands area, we secured a place on Scape’s Regional Construction framework in 2018 – delivering construction projects and programmes of work with a value between £500,000 and £2.5 million across Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

Embedded within our organisation since 2009, we have always been passionate about social value and are extremely proud of the work undertaken within the framework – further cementing us as a well-respected regional contractor with an excellent reputation for successful delivery and helping support local communities.

Craig Stopper, Regional Construction framework Manager at G F Tomlinson, reflects on our successful partnership and looks forward to continuing our work with Scape across the region.
He discusses the initiatives and key successes undertaken, and notes that social value is a crucial part of the business – working collaboratively with Scape, schools, colleges, universities, charities and community organisations to deliver valuable initiatives to support the communities and economy within the regions we work.

Why is G F Tomlinson’s work with Scape important?

Our partnership with Scape has enabled us to work across a number of very successful projects within the region – all of which have exceptional environmental and economic benefits. Alongside this, we have provided communities with many opportunities, spending £40 million with local SMEs in the last three years alone.

We have focused specifically on four key investment areas – employment and training, sustainability, environmental protection and community support. This contribution continues to be recognised – with a number of award wins.

What sort of benefits have you been able to bring to local communities thanks to your partnership with Scape?

Our continued partnership with Scape has given us a far greater opportunity to provide a lasting legacy for the communities in which we work than we would have been able to provide otherwise. During this partnership we have supported over 230 different organisations in our region.

As a result of our partnership G F Tomlinson have supported over 30,000 jobs, provided 2,719 apprentice weeks, 111 work experience placements and engaged with over 6,000 students as part of its projects under the framework to date. We use the Social Value Portal’s platform to track and report on the social value generated through delivery of our projects providing transparent, standardised method with trusted results.

We also developed ‘The Local Communities Partnership Programme’ last year, working alongside Arc Partnership (a joint venture between Nottinghamshire County Council and Scape) as well as Perfect Circle (A complete consultancy solution owned by Pick Everard, Gleeds and AECOM). The programme invited local not-for-profit organisations in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Staffordshire to apply for pro bono design and construction advice for an upcoming community project that required expert guidance, support and skills. The selected charity, Treetops Hospice, is currently benefiting from our involvement in helping them to bring about essential improvements to their facilities and one of their charity shops.

The Scape framework was configured to take a strengthened approach to demonstrating value for money, and measures social value via the National TOMs (Themes, Outcomes, Measures) method developed in association with the Social Value Portal. The National TOMs used to measure social value in the Scape Regional Construction framework are built around five key themes – jobs, growth, social, environmental and social innovation – with each of these supported by 18 outcomes and 38 specific measures. This enables an in-depth understanding of the additional value of the contracts being delivered.

What recent key projects have you delivered through the framework?

In 2021, we completed the Tower Gardens Pavilion project in Skegness worth £1.6 million, which won Best Public or Community Building at the LABC Building Excellence Awards in the East Midlands and was selected as the Integration and Collaborative category winner at the East Midlands Constructing Excellence Awards.

The project transformed a disused site which now houses the new mixed-use Tower Gardens Pavilion community building, complete with multi-purpose function spaces, Council offices, a changing places hygiene suite and a café.

We are also progressing with a project at Arnold market place, scheduled to complete this Spring. The project involves construction of a new contemporary public space and landmark building that has been specially tailored for enterprising local start-ups looking to make their first move onto the high street. The award of this project through the Scape Regional Construction framework has provided us with opportunity to further support Gedling Youth and Community Hub by carrying out improvements to its buildings.

At the University of Lincoln’s Riseholme Park campus, we undertook a programme of major renovation worth £2.5 million, which provided improved learning and research facilities for university staff and students. 83% of the workforce were local labour and 77% of local spend was sourced and achieved within 40 miles of the site.

We also completed works at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham in 2021, replacing over one million mosaic tiles of the façade of the building.

What sectors does your Scape work include?

Within the framework, we work across numerous sectors. For public sector clients including education, civic, retail, offices, housing, waste, industrial and heritage. Projects within these sectors include new build, extensions, refurbishments and repair and maintenance works.