Consultants land £49m Hertfordshire deal

Hertfordshire County Council has awarded a seven-year client support contract for road network management services to a joint venture team of Opus International Consultants and Arup.

The consultants will work with the council to develop, implement and manage the technical programmes for the highway network under a deal worth £7m a year for seven years.

Arup, Opus and HCC work together as a single team under the end-to-end ‘whole client service’ model which is hoped to cut 20% from the cost of services.

Allen Paul, director of Arup, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to showcase what we can achieve by working together with HCC and Opus to maximise efficiencies for the benefit of the client and everyone who uses the Hertfordshire road network.”

He added: “We already have a strong working relationship with HCC, with Opus working for the council on a regular basis, so it is a natural partnership.”

Opus Chief Executive and Managing Director, Dr David Prentice said: “With austerity measures in place in many markets, the focus on effective management is growing with economic conditions forcing moves towards better asset management, cost saving and a ‘whole of life’ approach.