Dundee City Council leader Ken Guild has revealed that only two companies tendered for the contract to build the V&A in Dundee, both of which have been involved in the “blacklisting” scandal.
Mr Guild said the city would have lost “millions in terms of money and hundreds in terms of jobs” had the SNP majority on the council’s policy and resources committee not voted to appoint BAM Construction Ltd as preferred contractors for the project.
He said had they dismissed both applications on grounds of the blacklisting issue it would have meant “starting the whole tender process from scratch,” setting the timetable back by a year and “putting the whole project in jeopardy”.
He was responding to claims by the opposition parties that the ruling party on the committee had “steamrollered” through the decision to appoint BAM as preferred bidders.
He said only two tenders had been received from BAM and Sir Robert McAlpine, both of whom have been implicated in blacklisting union members and preventing them from working on contracts.
“This is a particularly complex project and there are very few companies who have the technical abilities and experience to construct this building.
“If we dismissed both we would have to start the entire tender process from the start.”