Eddisons secures over £20m for school building improvement projects

Property consultant Eddisons has secured more than £20m of funding to improve buildings at schools across the UK in the latest round of the Government’s Condition Improvement Fund (CIF).

Education sector specialist Eddisons has raised more than £20m in school funding over recent years and the latest round of secured funding includes £4m for school building projects in Yorkshire, £1.6m for heating upgrade projects in Gosport and Southampton and £650,000 for fire safety works at Corley Academy SEN school in Coventry.

Ian Harrington, head of Eddisons specialist education team, said:

“This is another year of fantastic results for both our clients and the team. However, the success also highlights once again the fact that education is one of the more poorly funded sectors, with 2,000 projects unsuccessful in their bids in this round of funding alone.

“We will continue to work with those schools and academies that were unsuccessful, to offer guidance on future bids, as well as offering advice on other funding opportunities that are available. With the total CIF pot remaining unchanged on last year, despite base rate inflation being at 11% and construction inflation nearer 30%, it was one the most fiercely competitive rounds of funding we’ve experienced.”

The CIF programme is an annual round of bidding under which academy schools and colleges can apply for funding for the upkeep and improvement of their buildings and to fund expansion projects for schools that have been rated good or outstanding by Ofsted. In total, the Department for Education received funding requests for over 3,000 projects this year, with 1,033 projects across 859 academies being allocated a share of the £456m.

Mr Harrington added:

“The CIF bidding procedure is highly complex and Eddisons’ education team   have built up huge knowledge and experience over the years to help deliver successful bids and projects that make a real difference to schools and to the people who study and work in them.

“Every year the process of submitting a successful CIF bid becomes ever more competitive and we are really pleased to say that we have maintained our position as a key adviser to the education sector, with an excellent success rate for our bids.”

The successful projects will all get underway shortly and will be project managed by Eddisons.