黑洞社区

Steve Rice, a chartered surveyor who has held numerous roles within Defence Estates, will be responsible for reforming the way the client鈥檚 拢20bn development pipeline is procured under its Next Generation Estates Contract (NGEC) programme.

Diane Rampling, who previously oversaw the programme, will remain as head of commercial procurement for Defence Estates reporting to the client鈥檚 chief executive, Vice Admiral Tim Laurence, but will no longer oversee NGEC.

According to one source her long-term involvement with the NGEC programme is 鈥渦ncertain鈥�; for the foreseeable future she will act as a senior commercial adviser on the scheme.

A source close to Defence Estates said: 鈥淣GEC has grown and now has a need for its own director. It is fair to say that Steve will take on a big chunk of responsibility that originally fell under Diane鈥檚 remit.鈥�

Several in the industry had previously questioned whether Rampling was suited to the role owing to her lack of a construction background.

Steve will take on a big chunk of responsibility that fell under Diane鈥檚 remit

Defence estates source

Rice is head of profession for MoD construction professionals and was project manager for the client鈥檚 Project SLAM scheme to renovate forces housing.

His most recent role was as head of operations, overseeing the upkeep and development of the military estate in the north of England.

Last month, Rampling said in an interview with 黑洞社区 that the MoD was planning a BAA-style overhaul of its procurement system.

She said: 鈥淥ne plan could be that projects between 拢15m and 拢50m go through a framework and anything over that goes out for competitive tender.鈥�