MORE than 70 jobs have been transfered away from Suffolk County Council into a new business which will design and oversee the construction of new buildings.

Concertus has been formed by three senior county council managers and will deliver property expertise in East Anglia and beyond.

The new company is wholly owned by the county council but is operationally independent – and is hoping to win contracts from across the public and private sector.

Much of its work has been involved with designing and overseeing the construction of new and remodelled schools.

Its staff helped design both the Ipswich and Felixstowe Academies that are currently being built.

And they have also helped design and convert many of the other schools in the county.

Managing director Andrew Rowe said his department was looking forward to life as an independent body.

He said: “As a team we have a huge amount of experience both in the private and public sector. It is fantastic to get the backing of the county council to set our property consultancy up as a stand-alone company.”

He added that about 80% of its current work centred on schools with changes being made to buildings because of the schools’ organisation review and the establishment of new free schools and academies.

Away from the education sector, the team has also been working on the design of the new waste from energy plant – or incinerator – that is currently taking shape at Great Blakenham near Ipswich.

Concertus will be led by three former managers and colleagues from the property team at the county. Mr Rowe will be supported by directors Carl Lockwood, a chartered architectural technologist, and Matthew Self, an architect.

The new company starts day one with more than 70 staff, transferred directly from the county council, providing expertise across five disciplines: project and portfolio management, design, energy and carbon management, quantity surveying and property transaction.