Businesses in Gwent are being urgred to seize the opportunities which Europe’s biggest construction project has to offer as Crossrail chairman Terry Morgan visits Wales to meet Welsh Government Economy Minister Edwina Hart.

Crossrail is the £14.8bn project to build a new rail link across London, including 26 miles of tunnels underneath the streets of the capital.

On a scale nearly twice the size of the Olympics, the project is creating jobs and business opportunities right around the UK as companies from Cornwall to Scotland win work.

An event, being held in Cardiff with Business Wales, will be attended by business representatives from across the country. Delegates will get the chance to find out how to win work on Crossrail and to hear from two of the project’s major contractors, Costain Skanska and Bam Ferrovial Kier (BFK).

Terry Morgan, whoi is orginally from Cwmbran, and Edwina Hart will also visit Celsa UK, a Cardiff-based company which has provided more than 50,000 tonnes of steel to Crossrail.

Much of this steel is sent to a subsidiary company, Express Reinforcements, with depots in Newport, Cardiff and Neath.

This firm manufactures steel cages to reinforce concrete which have been used at ten Crossrail sites. The work has resulted in the creation of 80 temporary jobs and many more have been preserved.

It is estimated that Crossrail will generate at least 75,000 business opportunities and support the equivalent of 55,000 full time jobs right around the UK. Three out of five businesses currently winning work on the project are based outside London and 58 per cent are SMEs.

Edwina Hart said: “The Crossrail project is a great opportunity for Welsh companies to benefit from the contracts available in this major infrastructure project. Businesses can find out more about the project and contracts available at this event in Cardiff and I urge them to make the most of these potential supply chain opportunities.”

Terry Morgan, Crossrail chairman, said: “As a Welshman, I’m incredibly proud that steel produced in Wales is playing a significant part in the construction of London’s new rail link.

“Crossrail is not just benefitting London and the South East, it is creating jobs and business opportunities right around the UK as firms from Falmouth to Fife pick up work on the project. A number of companies from Wales have already won work, but as we enter peak construction, it’s vital that firms from this part of the world continue to seize the opportunities that will be on offer.”