RICH pickings will be up for grabs for local companies bidding for work on the forthcoming HS2 link – Europe’s largest infrastructure project.

This is according to the founder and director of Bolton-based national business tendering specialist Thornton and Lowe.

Former Deane High School pupil David Thornton said that once the network is up and running, it is expected to generate up to £59.8 billion in “user benefits” as well as £13.3 billion in wider economic spin offs.

“While the long term financial rewards are clear, many companies can also make a huge amount of money by getting involved in the building of the railway,” said Mr Thornton.

“There will be a multitude of hugely lucrative contracts being made available to companies in the manufacturing and construction sectors in particular with forecasts suggesting 9,000 building jobs will be created in phase one of the project and a further 10,000 during phase two.

“This is great in theory, but do enough businesses know about the incredible opportunities that could be presented to them?”

Mr Thornton pointed to clear signs of progression in recent months. Towards the end of October, representatives of about 500 businesses attended a conference held by leaders of the HS2 development in Manchester.

The event gave HS2 chiefs an opportunity to brief companies on what will be expected of them when they eventually bid for work.

HS2 chief executive Simon Kirby confirmed £10 billion worth of contracts would be up for grabs during the first stage of the project – the section between London and the West Midlands – alone.

“The sheer value of these contracts shouldn’t really surprise us,” said Mr Thornton. “After all, the whole infrastructure development has an overall budget of £42.6 billion.

“To spice things up even further, the government recently gave its backing to the possible development of HS3, which if proposals to fruition, will link major cities in the north of England.

“These plans are very much in their infancy, but you can be sure that opportunist engineers, manufacturers, builders and environmental businesses, to name a few, will be monitoring the situation very closely.”

Shovels are expected to be in the ground by 2017 with the first section of line operational by 2026.

Invitations to tender have already been sent out for engineering and environmental services for the project and competition is likely to be intense, said Mr Thornton.

Thornton and Lowe’s headquarters is in Higher Bridge Street, but it works closely with many businesses all over the country, including London, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, North Wales and Yorkshire.