As you know, over the past month we have asked a number of specialist firms to tender for the new boiler system and its associated works. Only three of the firms submitted tenders, and they were all very much higher than we were expecting – in the region of £180,000 excluding VAT.
Although we knew there would be some extra costs caused by resiting the boiler in the office above the Mayhew Room, in fact most of the cost is concentrated on the mechanical and electrical works. As a result we propose to find out from the contractors, via the architect, how the figures were arrived at, to see if might be other ways forward, and in the meantime we will investigate ways of keeping the existing boiler going as reliably as possible for a while longer.
This is not where we had hoped to be at this stage, but please rest assured that we have not come to a standstill and that we will keep you informed about progress.