In February 1996 the FCO changed to a PFI approach

1.6  The FCO proceeded to test the market for a PFI scheme. At the same time, with a view to minimising overall delay, the existing design team continued to develop their design in close co-ordination with the FCO and the Berlin planning authorities.

1.7  In the latter half of 1995 and early 1996 the FCO clarified whether a PFI project was likely to be feasible, investigated options for proceeding with the PFI competition, and recruited advisors to the project. The FCO commissioned a feasibility study into PFI options which reported in September 1995. The report concluded that there were feasible PFI options for the development of the Embassy. The FCO then proceeded to test potential interest with five suppliers on the basis of the Wilford design. Estimates of the net present cost were obtained and compared with the net present cost of the traditional procurement route (Figure 2). On the basis of this, they concluded in February 1996 that a PFI scheme was a viable proposition.