Three contractors, one £10bn prize

Multiplex, Mace Construct and Bovis are presenting their build plans to JP Morgan this week for the US bank's proposed Canary Wharf headquarters, with Sir Robert McAlpine reportedly also invited, Building reported. These are so called beauty parade sessions: each contractor sets out how it would build the tower, which supply chain it would use and what timetable it could hit. No one has been asked to price the job yet, and JP Morgan hasn't settled on a procurement route.

The scheme itself is enormous. Designed by Foster + Partners for the Riverside South plot that JP Morgan bought back in 2008 and mothballed through the financial crisis, the tower would run to around three million square feet, capped at 265 metres, enough to overtake 8 Canada Square as the tallest building in the Docklands. It's designed to house up to 12,000 staff, and construction is expected to take around six years once it starts. JP Morgan's own commissioned study puts the project's contribution to the UK economy at close to £9.9bn over six years, a figure that covers far more than the build cost alone.

Why it matters

This is the biggest single commercial scheme currently moving through London's development pipeline, and it's happening at a point when much of the rest of the market, housebuilding especially, is retrenching. A US bank committing to a six year build for 12,000 staff is a statement about London's standing as a financial centre that the construction sector will take as a vote of confidence, whatever else is happening to the order book.

It also tells you something about the contractor market at the very top end: there are only a handful of firms in the UK capable of a job this size on this site, which is why the same three or four names, Multiplex, Mace, Bovis, Sir Robert McAlpine, keep turning up on every major London tower tender.

What it means for your career

Nothing has been awarded yet, so there's no main contractor hiring wave to chase this week. But the project team is already growing: Alinea co-founder Steve Watts has joined as cost and commercial managing director, and Gardiner & Theobald is acting as cost consultant, both signs that JP Morgan is building a client side delivery organisation well ahead of breaking ground.

For senior QSs, planners and preconstruction leads with experience on London's tallest towers, this is one to track over the coming months. Whichever contractor wins will need to resource a six year programme from the top down, and that kind of job tends to pull talent, and sometimes whole teams, from wherever they're currently sitting. If your CV has a City or Docklands high rise on it, keep an eye on the announcement.