English Partnerships selects roster

Government quango English Partnerships has all but finalised its design roster with the appointment of five consultancies and a decision on the appointment of a sixth expected this week.

Martin Gibbon Associates, Paul Martin Associates, Albion Graphics & Marketing, Colin Clifford Design and Whitehouse Mainwaring were appointed from a list of ten groups to the three-year contract, which offers the chance to extend for a further 24 months.

English Partnerships has an annual design spend of £250 000.

The appointment of a sixth consultancy has been delayed while English Partnerships carries out ‘further investigations into its pitch’, says a spokeswoman. She says it is not certain that a sixth consultancy will be appointed.

Consultancies were asked to fill in a pre-tendering questionnaire in July (DW 5 July).

The spokeswoman says there will be instances when the organisation will outsource its work.

‘If we feel that one of the rostered groups is not suitable for the project then we will re-tender the work,’ says the spokeswoman.

One of the first projects for rostered consultancies will be to draw up a set of corporate guidelines and produce a set of generic corporate advertisements.

All design work will be allocated on a job-by-job basis, without a formal pitch.