Kier Education has been announced preferred bidder by Bolton Council for the Essa Academy and Bolton St Catherine's Academy and Firwood School contract, with a combined value of £51m.

The project, which has been procured through Partnerships for Schools National Framework, will see complete rebuilds to both school estates with Kier North West carrying out the building work which is due to start at the Essa site in April 2010.

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This follows the recent announcement from Telford & Wrekin Council that Kier Education is preferred bidder for a £200m scheme to build sports and learning communities across the borough, seeing Kier preferred for over £250m-worth of education projects across the country in the last week.

Kier Education won the contract for the two new Bolton academies after presenting a set of proposals for the Essa Academy which included an innovative and flexible building design, upgraded sports areas and 3D performance spaces.

Bolton Council's Executive Member for Children's Services, Cllr Ebrahim Adia, said: "The plans put forward by Kier were really impressive, and will create an excellent learning environment for the academies' pupils."

(CD/GK)