Important contrat dans le domaine de l’éducation pour développer, construire, exploiter et gérer des nouvelles écoles et collèges dans tout le Pays de Galles.

Background

Welsh Education Partnership (WEPCo) is a platform to efficiently plan, design, procure, build, finance and maintain schools and other community-based facilities in Wales. It will allow local authorities (the Participants) to develop and deliver schools projects through specific Mutual Investment Model schemes (MIM).

The Mutual Investment Model (MIM) is an innovative way to invest in public infrastructure developed in Wales. MIM has been designed by the Welsh Government to finance major capital projects due to a scarcity of capital funding ( source).

Following a tender process:

• Meridiam has been selected to setup this WEPCo jointly with the Welsh Government (Development Bank of Wales)
• Meridiam has secured the right to invest in all MIM projects being developed by WEPCo with an 80% shareholding

In September 2020, WEPCo signed a Strategic Partnering Agreement (SPA) with the Participants, called the 21st Century Schools Welsh Education Partnership. Under this SPA, WEPCo will have a 10-year exclusivity period for delivering MIM projects across Wales, with an optional 5-year extension. Each MIM project delivered under the SPA is expected to have a 25-year operational term.

The schools developed under the Partnership are part of the Welsh Governments objectives to improve educational attainment in Wales (lower than in other regions of the United Kingdom). In addition, the Welsh Government has a policy objective of carbon neutrality by 2050 and we expect that all new buildings delivered by WEPCo will target net zero carbon.

Stage:

Partnership Closed