Triple BSF success for Ramesys

Ramesys has announced the signing of two major contracts under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) initiative. BSF contracts at Manchester City Council and Waltham Forest City Council have reached financial close appointing Ramesys as their solutions provider. To complete this triple BSF success story, Ramesys has also received preferred bidder status for Westminster City Council.

Under the £17 million contract with Manchester City Council, Ramesys will provide a sophisticated ICT learning environment to 17 Secondary schools across the region. As well as managing the ICT infrastructure, Ramesys will deliver a range of services tailored to the specific requirements of each school that can be accessed from within the schools and from other locations, including homes and libraries.

The Manchester City Council contract will see Ramesys work alongside the City Council's Design and Build partners, Balfour Beatty and Laing O'Rourke. One school, Wright Robinson College in Gorton, has already gone live with new centralised and local ICT systems provided and run by Ramesys.

Councillor Sheila Newman, Executive Member for Children's Services at Manchester City Council, said, "The signing of contracts is a major milestone in our mission to transform teaching and learning to benefit thousands of young people across the city. We are determined that young people in Manchester will have the very best learning opportunities and this investment will go a long way towards achieving this."

The contract has also been signed for the Waltham Forest Council BSF programme. This partnership is led by construction company Bouygues UK along with its sister company, facilities management provider Ecovert FM, and HSBC Infrastructure. Education ICT specialist Ramesys will provide a managed ICT service, initially to all secondary schools in Walthamstow and, by 2010, to all secondary schools in the Borough. International law firm Eversheds advised Ramesys on the ICT deals between Manchester City Council and Waltham Forest.

Councillor Chris Robbins, the Council's Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said, "We are determined that young people in Waltham Forest have the best possible education, and this programme will give us some fantastic schools to help us achieve that. We are looking forward to the first openings in September next year and completing our programme in time for the Olympics in 2012."

Jonathan Walker, BSF Director said, "We are looking forward to working in partnership with both Manchester City Council and Waltham Forest City Council, and schools in the respective areas. ICT is central to the transformation of teaching and to developing our learners for 21st century working and living opportunities. We share the passion that both Manchester and Waltham Forest have for delivering this transformation to the wider community across their regions and for the development of a world class, innovative learning and resource platform for all. The financial close of these two contracts along with the preferred bidder status for Westminster City Council is further testament to Ramesys' leading position and strength within the ICT education market."