HS2 is preparing to host it’s biggest ever Meet the Contractor event for SMEs, with over 250 contracts ranging from £4,000 to £158m up for grabs.

Businesses from across the UK are being invited to register to attend the online event, and snap up the opportunity to participate in one-to-one meetings with HS2’s contractors.

New for 2021, HS2 will be offering meetings with Tier 2 contractors. This will mean that some of the smaller packages will be discussed, making the event even more accessible for SMEs to get involved with and win work. 

Sixteen subcontractors will be taking part in the event, offering over 250 packages of work, with values between £4,000 and £158m.

The event will be split into two weeks of interactive webinars, one week focusing on contracts for the construction of HS2 stations and the other Main Works Civils. All seven of the directly appointed joint venture contractors will be participating. The stations week will take place on 15-17 November and Main Works Civils will be 29 November - 1 December.

The event will comprise of keynote sessions where attendees can hear more about the project, what is on offer, and how to bid for work. There will also be a number of networking break-out sessions where up to 50 participants can network virtually, meeting other companies interested in working on HS2 and speaking as a group with HS2’s contractors.

Ruth Todd, HS2’s chief commercial officer, said: “Connecting to a wide variety of companies across the UK and wider is key to HS2’s success. This year’s Meet the Contractor event will be bigger and better and provide even more meetings for businesses who want to win work on HS2. One year on from starting main construction work on HS2 the project is now supporting 20,000 jobs, which is set to grow as construction work accelerates, and more businesses come on board.”

At last year’s virtual event, 6,200 people attended the seminars and 800 one-to-one meetings were held. Businesses who have attended previous events have already been successful in becoming part of HS2’s extensive supply chain including Kelly Formwork, a specialist FRC sub-contractor working with Skanksa Costain STRABAG joint venture.  

Rod Watson, operations director at Kelly Formwork, said: “We attended the HS2 Meet the Contractor event in 2017 and it gave us key insight into what HS2 and their contractors are looking for in the supply chain. This context helped us win a five-year work package that has provided stability to our business, which has been really important at a time of economic uncertainty.”

Registration for the event has now opened and businesses are encouraged to register their interest to attend seminars and apply for one-to-one meetings. 

Interested companies can click here to register by visiting the HS2 website.