Yorkshire-based Premier Modular gains contract to provide buildings for 25 Covid-19 testing sites

East Yorkshire-based Premier Modular, the offsite construction specialists, has been awarded a major contract for the Department for Health and Social Care to provide modular buildings for 25 Covid-19 testing sites across the UK stretching from Glasgow to Portsmouth.

The contract will increase testing capacity during the pandemic.

Each standalone test site has a purpose-designed testing building with eight patient cubicles, hygienic walls, separate staff entrance and exit, test collection and drop off zones and a family testing room. The buildings are manufactured at Premier’s offsite production centre in Brandesburton, East Yorkshire.

Premier’s contract also includes the supply of welfare facilities in three buildings to accommodate a PPE room, stores, test preparation, staff rest room, kitchenette and toilets, as well as essential services, such as the water supply, waste water collection and electricity generators.

Modular buildings have already been installed by Premier at testing sites in Bolton, Glasgow, Nottingham and Havant. The contract was procured through the Crown Commercial Service and will be completed this autumn.

George Swanepoel, Project Manager for the Havant centre at testing service provider Sodexo, said, “The site set up and the testing facility at Havant are fantastic. This is a well-designed building which is highly efficient for maintaining patient flows and social distancing.

"The modular solution is easy to keep clean, is not exposed to the elements and is a safe and comfortable environment for our staff to work in. The building installation went very smoothly in just a few hours. This testing site will have a really positive impact on the local community.”

David Harris, Managing Director of Premier Modular, said “We are very pleased to be playing our part in the national effort to support the Government in increasing Covid19 testing capabilities in the current pandemic. This is a vital initiative to help safeguard public health. It is also a fantastic example of how modular construction can help the NHS respond to local needs and an urgent requirement to rapidly increase capacity.”

This latest contract follows Premier’s successful delivery of modular buildings for the Nightingale Hospital in Exeter in just four weeks.

A spokesman said: "The hiring of modular accommodation is a fast, flexible and cost-effective way to expand capacity or relocate services, particularly on constrained sites. Temporary modular solutions give service providers greater flexibility as the facilities can be dismantled and removed if local needs change.

"Modular buildings to accommodate wards, health centres and ancillary services can be delivered in a fraction of the time of a site-based construction solution. Critically, purpose-designed and permanent facilities can be installed on hospital or urban sites with far less disruption to the local community."

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James Mitchinson