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Bidding begins for HS2 work as figures show new stations set to become major business hubs

The bidding process for London’s two new High Speed 2 (HS2) railway stations is to begin with contracts set to be awarded by next Autumn.

According to Construction Enquirer, HS2 Ltd has shortlisted four contractors to bid for the redevelopment work at London Euston and Old Oak Commons with a proposed timetable that will see contracts for almost £3bn-worth of work awarded by next Autumn.

The work, which is expected to create over 4,000 jobs, will see two separate contractors awarded the work on each station, with Euston alone set to be worth £1.65bn.

The news comes as new figures from business information company DueDil has shown that stations along the recently approved HS2 railway line are set to become major business hubs once operational.

Mining their own data for the figures, DueDil ranked the financial performance of companies within a ten mile radius of each HS2 station and found that businesses from London Euston all the way up to Lancaster and York boasted a combined £1.6trn turnover.

Rather predictably, the two stations in the capital dominate the figures representing over £1.3trn of the total amount with Euston alone accounting for £1.2trn.

Elsewhere, the Birmingham Curzon Street station saw its concentration of businesses turning over £35.6bn while regional hubs including Manchester Piccadilly (£36.8bn) and Leeds (£50bn) also performed well.

The figures outline both the relatively even spread of economic contribution from businesses outside of London and the potential benefits the new high speed line provides in linking pre-existing business hubs around the country.

DueDil’s co-founder and chief executive Damian Kimmelman believes that by ‘physically linking’ the country’s economic centres the UK will enjoy a more connected economy.

He added: “While London naturally has the highest concentration of businesses and flow of money, our analysis shows that private companies outside the capital are also contributing significant amounts to our economy.”

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