Works worth £250m put out to tender by Highways England

A new framework agreement for construction works expected to be worth more than £250 million in the East Midlands has been put out to tender by Highways England.

It is the second invitation to tender to be published under the new set of arrangements in the East Midlands, which sees Highways England making a change from its previous way of working, bringing key functions in-house to take direct control of its road network.

The framework, which will run for four years, is made up of 14 lots representing the disciplines of construction required to maintain, repair, renew and improve the strategic road network in the East Midlands.

In a change from previous arrangements, the new framework will see successful contractors having direct contact with Highways England, making it easier for them to showcase innovative materials, products and techniques.

David Poole, director for commercial and procurement, said: “This represents a real step change for Highways England and the way it has previously managed contracts. This new way of working in Area 7 demonstrates Highways England’s commitment to enhancing the way it operates the strategic road network over the next five years.”

The framework agreement will be in place from 1 April 2016, and it is expected that the total value of contracts to be awarded through the framework could be more than £250m.

The new contract arrangements in the East Midlands bring with them new employment opportunities, with Highways England looking to boost its in-house capability through the recruitment of new staff – with a significant number expected to transfer from the current Area 7 provider Aone+.

The tender can be found here: http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:336527-2015:TEXT:EN:HTML.