February 1994 | FCO obtained Treasury approval to fund construction of new Embassy in Berlin using conventional procurement route. |
February 1995 | Architects and engineers appointed to design the new Embassy. |
September 1995 | Report commissioned by FCO concluded that PFI was feasible option. |
December 1995 | Site at 71 Wilhelmstrasse purchased by FCO from German Government for £6.5 million (70 Wilhelmstrasse already owned by FCO). |
December 1995/June 1996 | FCO internal discussions on right approach to a PFI procurement. |
June 1996 | Advertisement for PFI procurement placed in Official Journal of the European Communities. |
August 1996 | Information and questionnaire issued to firms. |
September 1996 | Longlist of nine potential bidders was produced by team of FCO and their advisors. |
October 1996 | Interviews with nine firms on the longlist produced a shortlist of three bidders. |
December 1996 | Invitation to Negotiate issued to bidders. |
February 1997 | Invitation to Tender issued to three short-listed bidders. |
April 1997 | Bids received. |
May/June 1997 | Evaluation of bids. |
July 1997 | FCO wrote to Arteos saying it wished to appoint Arteos as preferred bidder under certain conditions. Negotiations followed over the conditions of appointment, and Arteos was appointed as preferred bidder at the end of July. |
August/December 1997 | Discussions continued before novation of architect's and engineer's agreements took place in December. |
7 May 1998 | Planning Approval issued for Embassy building. |
23 June 1998 | Deal signed. |
29 February 2000 | Anticipated handover date. |
March 2000 | Deed of settlement agreed between Arteos and FCO concerning delayed handover. |
2 May 2000 | Revised handover date under settlement agreement. |
June 2000 | Current handover date. |