Highways England unveils new opportunities for North West suppliers

Highways England is engaging with the North West supply chain to better advise how they can bid for future contracts worth around £500 million pounds.

During an industry day held at the DW Stadium in Wigan, Highways England reminded the North West supply chain of the road authority’s much anticipated move to Asset Delivery. As part of this, Highways England will not only manage routine maintenance but also the delivery of capital renewal and improvement schemes.

It’s a very different way of working, centralising core functions in-house while boosting the authority’s control over England’s strategic road network.

Crucially, the industry day presented a valuable opportunity for suppliers to learn more about the upcoming tender exercise, which will replace the current Asset Support Contract in 2019.

According to Highways England Operations Director, Nick Harris: “The North West’s 260 miles of motorways and 50 miles of A roads form the backbone for the region and are vital in building a strong economy.

“New suppliers will help us continue to deliver record investment in roads, the highest in a generation, enabling the delivery of the first Road Investment Strategy and preparing for the future.

“We recognise the scale of change that the move to our Asset Delivery operating model has introduced to Highways England, by 2019 over 40% of our network will be working to the new operating model. This is an exciting time to get involved and it was excellent to see so many suppliers come and talk to us today.”

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