Mids manufacturer "outraged" as £2m deal goes overseas
A Newcastle-under-Lyme manufacturer has spoken of its "shock" after Birmingham City Council handed a £2m contract to an overseas business rather than a local company.
Rackline lost out on a contract to provide shelving and storage for the city's new Birmingham City Library in favour of Danish company Qubica.
The company said the contract win, awarded by construction company Carillion and the city council, would have secured 65 jobs and created additional work in the region.
Rackline, which has a turnover of £7m, designs and manufactures storage solutions for libraries, universities, hospitals and museums. It recently secured a £1m contract with Aberdeen University Library.
Managing director Lindsay Khan said: "Naturally when we tendered for the shelving in the new landmark library building in Centenary Square, Birmingham we had high hopes of success. This was against a background of understanding that the council was focusing on regeneration of the local economy, creation of new jobs and sustaining local jobs in the West Midlands."
The company said it was"shocked" when the contract was awarded to Qubica, based 950 miles away.
Khan added: "It makes no sense that at a time when George Osborne is calling for British organisations to support British manufacturing that this contract is awarded to a Danish company."
Rackline said it has since appealed. Shabana Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Ladywood, as well as Joan Walley, MP for Stoke-on-Trent North have both supported Rackline's request for more information.
A spokesman for Birmingham City Council and Carillion, said that Qubiqa was judged to be "the best option for the project and Birmingham taxpayer"
They added: "A thorough tender process was completed in the award of the shelving contract for the Library of Birmingham.
"The evaluation was carried out on an open book basis and involved the assessment of a range of criteria including cost and specification by a panel comprising members of staff from Carillion, Capita Symonds (appointed as council project managers), and Central Library."
