“GETTING the builders in” is rarely a happy experience. For John Alexander, head teacher of Abbots Farm Junior School in Rugby, it proved infuriating and exhausting.
The workmen who were supposed to be fixing the school roof in August 2001 seemed to have other distractions. They were caught having a round of golf on the playing fields, sunbathing on a school roof and sleeping in their van during the day, according to staff. They also set off a classroom burglar alarm so many times that police refused to respond.
The work — fixing and securing a flat roof — took four weeks instead of the scheduled three. Once the job was finished the workmen left rubble strewn across the school car park, it was alleged.
So last week, when Mr Alexander learnt that Howard Evans (Roofing) had colluded with competitors to win the contract, he said that he was not surprised. “They acted as if they did not care about the job, and now I can see why. The company could have easily negotiated with their competitors to get another contract and so their behaviour did not matter.
“We all suffer in the end if companies get away with these practices. Who knows how quickly the work would have been done and how much better it could have been done if the contractors had put in real, competitive bids for the work.”
Advertisement
According to an OFT investigation, Abbots Farm was one of several schools in Warwickshire that were victims of collusion in 2001. The same three companies — Howard Evans, Briggs Cladding & Roofing and The General Asphalte Company — colluded on at least nine contracts that year.
An informant from Howard Evans said that his company had contacted General Asphalte to organise the contracts in February and March of 2001, so that they could decide how much each company should bid. Howard Evans eventually won the contract with a bid of £22,844. The OFT investigation concluded that all three companies had colluded over the work at Abbots Farm.
Simon Levett-Dunn, now sole director of Howard Evans but a co-director in 2001, said that the company was under new management. “What [the school’s staff] have said is rubbish. I disagree with all of their comments.
“We helped the OFT as much as we could and did not admit to price-fixing, but we did admit to collusion. As far as the school’s allegations are concerned, our guys went to work early as is traditional in the summer. And burglar alarms can be set off by working on the roof, particularly if you are installing lighting.”