Midland Metropolitan Hospital: the £300m Pilot PF2 Project Closes 4 months after selection of preferred bidder

The project was selected to be the hospital pilot for HM Treasury’s new PF2 model, which has replaced the Private Finance Initiative. The new model provides greater transparency, gives the government an equity stake in the initiative, improves risk allocation and speeds up the procurement process.

Projects and finance legal director at Pinsent Masons and lead lawyer on the deal, Carly Caton, said: “The Treasury set a  target to achieve selection of preferred bidder within 18 months. I am pleased to say we have achieved financial close in 17 months, well ahead of the Treasury’s timetable.”

Caton added that the project could serve as a blueprint for future infrastructure projects hoping to secure private finance but avoiding the lengthy procurement processes typically associated with this financing model.

NHS Trust Commercial Manager, Daphne Lewsley, said: “We are really pleased to have worked so hard and effectively to achieve an efficient procurement so that our private sector partners can now get started on building a new hospital for the people of Birmingham.”

Barry Francis,  Pinsent Masons’ head of healthcare, said: “We are proud, once more, to be leading developments in securing a new hospital using new value for money approaches and working through with a range of government and private sector actors how to do all of this quickly”