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The call to seize work opportunities comes as Crossrail chiefs reveal the project has already dished out £5.5bn of contracts to Tier One contractors.
Crossrail bosses say the bulk of contracts throughout the supply chain must still be awarded creating an estimated 75,000 business opportunities as main contractors seek goods, works and services from companies of all sizes.
Interested firms are being urged to sign-up to the project’s website, which is set up like a dating agency for businesses, matching suppliers to opportunities that suit them.
Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail chief executive said: “Work is set to peak over the next two years, so it’s vital that businesses continue to seize the opportunities that Crossrail has to offer.”
“Crossrail will not just benefit London and the southeast – the project’s economic benefits are being felt well beyond the confines of the M25.”
According to a new audit of work so far, 1,701 UK businesses have secured work connected to the project.
Of the firms supplying Crossrail with information about their size, nearly six out of 10 are classified as small and medium-sized firms.
The audit also shows the giant London infrastructure project is impacting on firms across the country with 43% based outside London and the south east.
Throughout the project, which still has to spend £9.6bn, and its supply chain it is estimated that enough work will be generated to support the equivalent of 55,000 full time jobs.
Key links
Supply chain opportunities website
2013 Crossrail milestone
- The launch of Sophia, Crossrail’s fifth tunnelling machine in January, followed by a sixth tunnelling machine, Mary, this summer. Both machines will tunnel from Plumstead.
- Construction of the new Crossrail Custom House station will get underway
- The eastern tunnelling machines will break through into Canary Wharf station box this spring before making their way towards central London
- The western tunnelling machines will pass through the sites of major new Crossrail stations, starting with Bond Street followed by Tottenham Court Road
- Continued archaeology works at Crossrail sites including excavation of the Bedlam Burial Ground at Liverpool Street station where up to 4,000 skeletons from the 1600s-1800s are thought to be buried
- Major infrastructure works on the surface section to help increase capacity on the existing rail network, including construction of a new fly-over close to Heathrow, a new rail-underpass in Acton and the rebuilding of existing rail bridges to provide room for overhead electric equipment for the new Crossrail trains
- Further designs and plans finalised for station improvements to be made along the surface section of the Crossrail route including a new station at Abbey Wood
- A section of the Royal Docks will be drained to allow major works on the Connaught Tunnel to commence and involve opening the tunnel from above for the first time since its construction in 1878
- Further planning applications submitted for over-site developments above Crossrail stations including the western ticket hall (Davies Street) at Bond Street
- Continued progress by Canary Wharf Group on the four-storey retail development above the new Canary Wharf station, including the start of work on the timber lattice roof in late 2013
- Completion of the first Crossrail tunnels by the end of 2013 – the 6km western section between Royal Oak and Farringdon
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