WEST FIFE businesses will this month have the chance to find out about contract opportunities available as part of Fife Council's nursery build programme.

A Meet the Buyer event is being held on November 29 at the Carnegie Conference Centre between 10am and 12 noon for any interested parties.

The £30 million programme will see a huge increase in childcare facilities across the Kingdom.
More than 700 new nursery places will be provided in West Fife as part of efforts to deliver additional early learning and childcare hours.

With youngsters set to get 1,140 hours instead of the current 600 hours by August 2020, three new nursery centres are set to be created while refurbishments and extensions are also planned at existing facilities.

The former Pitcorthie Primary School site is likely to be the place where a brand-new facility will be created in South Dunfermline while new-builds at Halbeath Community Centre and Rosyth Resource Centre have also been proposed.

Revamps at Inzievar, Tulliallan, St Serf’s and Touch primaries will be undertaken and existing crèches at Duloch and Carnegie leisure centres are also set to be turned into nursery centres.

An outdoor nursery could also potentially be developed in Duloch.

The expansion programme, which has been developed by Fife Council's Education and Children's Services and the school estates team, has been split into 60 construction contracts with all works required to be completed by August 2020.

They aim to maximise the use of existing school estate capacity, expand partner provision where capacity allows, use existing council facilities to increase capacity where suitable, extend existing buildings to create additional capacity and create additional capacity through new-build nurseries.

At the Meet the Buyer event, members of Fife Council’s economic development team will be on hand to offer assistance to access procurement training support, as well as a chance to network with procurement experts from Fife Council, the Robertson Group and Scotland Excel. 

Representatives from Property Services and Building Services will also be in attendance on the day to provide insight and opportunities into the Fife Nursery Build Programme and how businesses can be involved.

Councillor Altany Craik, convenor of Fife Council’s economy, tourism, strategic planning and transportation committee, said: “This major programme of works can give local businesses an excellent opportunity to be part of a major set of contracts to deliver Fife Council’s Nursery Build Programme. 

"The Meet the Buyer event will ensure businesses are equipped with the necessary information, skills and knowledge to exploit the many opportunities this programme will deliver. It’s a positive step forward for the development of Fife’s economy.”

Any business wanting to book a place at the event should email Dorothy.Smith@fife.gov.uk.