A seamless transition, to the right accommodation in the right location …. by 31 March 2003. This is the deceptively simple 'mission statement' for the relocation of the Met. Office. Over 200 organisations have now expressed interest in the project following the publication of the OJEC notice last month and a briefing day last week.

Value for money will be the sole criterion for evaluating proposals, says Rob Varley, Project Manager Procurement within the relocation team. This means that the Met. Office is not committed to a PFI or indeed any other solution, "We are open on questions of private finance, asset disposal, unitary or service charges. The Met. Office can fund this project itself, without recourse to external finance."

The Met. Office currently occupies 37,000 sq/m (400,000 sq/ft), principally on three sites in and around Bracknell. There is also a 43 acre training college on the outskirts of Reading. According to Varley, the prime driver for the relocation is the failing infrastructure of the main 23,000 sq/m (250,000 sq/ft) Bracknell building: "Rather than invest in upgrading the existing accommodation, we decided we could achieve greater operational benefits by consolidating the portfolio."

Although the target date is more than two years away, Varley says this is actually quite a tight deadline: "The Met Office delivers real time services to customers around the world. We cannot afford to go down, even for a minute, so there will be a year of dual running of systems."

The relocation team has produced an output specification for the project which, as yet, does not even specify the number of staff to be accommodated. The Met Office has not expressed a preference for location and will explore all options. House prices in and around Bracknell are an issue for current staff so a move out of the south-east is at least a possibility.
Companies wishing to pre-qualify for the relocation project must do so by this Thursday. Qualifying companies will be reduced to a longlist of up to 10 by the beginning of next month and a shortlist of between three and five by early September, with an appointment expected early next year.

The Met Office has put together a well resourced team to run the relocation. In addition to internal expertise and contract specialists from the MoD, the main procurement advisers are Mouchel, CB Hillier Parker are property consultants, planning advice is from Barton Wilmore, legal advice comes from Addleshaw Booth & Co and Logica are working on IT.

Richard Byatt

A copy of the OJEC notice can be downloaded from the Met Office website http://www.met-office.gov.uk/sec1/reloc.html