Covid-19 test sites

						
							Programme						

							2 sites per week across the UK

						
							Scope						

							50 testing sites

						
							Solution						

							Rental

The Brief

Community testing sites were required across the UK to support the Government in rapidly increasing testing capacity in the Covid-19 pandemic to help safeguard public health.

The Challenges

Since the first project was delivered in Bolton, Premier set up standalone community testing sites in towns and cities across the country including Glasgow, Leamington Spa, Dudley, Nottingham, Aylesbury, Buxton, Bury St Edmunds, Torbay, Lambeth, Durham, and Liverpool.
The geographical spread of the sites demanded strong logistics and detailed project management.
The bespoke testing buildings were each manufactured to order. To help achieve this, Premier put in place an entire extra shift to work through the night at its modular building factory in East Yorkshire. This allowed it to achieve the record lead times required for this contract and other major projects during the pandemic.
Premier brought together a range of highly committed suppliers to facilitate the installation of around two sites per week. Lead times from site notification to handover were reduced to just a week – and even less than that on some sites, which was a phenomenal achievement.
Premier reduced the site installation to just three days, including testing, commissioning, service connections, handover, and inductions. This compared to five days for other test site suppliers.
Some city centre sites were very constrained and so required careful logistical planning to manage limited space, particularly during the installation.