An invitation has gone out to everyone from building and construction firms to companies that lay sports pitches to take work going at a £121 million project to transform what was the West's biggest airbase.
The Hercules Project has already begun to turn the former RAF Lyneham site in Wiltshire into Britain's first tri-service technical training college.
And the two firms given the job – Balfour Beatty and Kier – have issued the invitation to smaller contractors right across Wiltshire and Swindon to ask for work to finish the project.
Bosses of the Hercules venture are holding a "Meet the Buyer" event next Tuesday, March 18, at the Wiltshire Golf Club, near Royal Wootton Bassett in three shifts.
They said the day will be a huge opportunity for local firms to win one of the smaller contracts, and they have a huge range of work on offer.
The work is one of the single biggest building projects in the West this decade, and involves refurbishing around 73,000 sq m of existing buildings, and constructing 56,000sq m of new buildings.
"The project will also include demolition, infrastructure works including utilities, drainage, roads, car parks, mechanical and electrical and security, external and internal training areas, sports pitches, a vehicle recovery training facility and landscaping," the construction manager for the Hercules Project, Richard Collin, said.
"Working with a local supply chain is at the heart of the Hercules procurement plan, an approach which will contribute to the local economy," he added.
Ironically enough, the "Meet the Buyer" event will take place in the same conference room at the same golf club venue that businessman and former newspaper tycoon Eddy Shah launched his "Plan B" to turn RAF Lyneham into a theme park, if a military use could not be found for the base.
Mr Shah – who owned the golf club at the time – had said his consortium was ready to create a vast business park, new homes and huge theme park on the RAF base, whichclosed in 2012.
But in the end, following intense lobbying from council chiefs and the local MP James Gray, defence ministers opted to use Lyneham to resurrect the defence technical training college project, which had been shelved from its original location in Wales when costs spiralled. The plan could see 3,000 new jobs for Lyneham and the local area.
Tuesday's event is free for local firms to attend, but registering beforehand is advised, via the Government-backed Constructionline website.
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