Kier has been awarded a £225m road maintenance deal with Somerset Council.
The eight-year contract will see the contractor replace current provider Milestone Infrastructure to assume responsibility for road repairs, drainage, curb cutting and winter services on the county’s 4,172-mile road network.
Somerset said many of the staff currently operating under Milestone Infrastructure would transfer to Kier to ensure the council had valuable experience.
The tender process represents a significant change to the way services are delivered in the county, with the existing agreement split into four separate contracts to increase efficiency, cost-effectiveness and innovation.
Kier was chosen for core maintenance, the largest of the four, after being tested against a range of criteria including value for money, carbon reduction and commitment to social value.
Three other multi-million pound deals covering resurfacing, surface treatment and new assets will also be awarded in due course, the council said.
When the bidding process started 18 months agoSomerset pledged that the new contracts would focus on more than just delivering work and that there would be a greater partnership between client and contractor.
Mike Rigby, Somerset Council’s lead member for transport and digital, said the deal represented a significant upgrade to the authority’s network maintenance services, which provided an opportunity to build resilience to change climate and to support the growth of the local economy.
“We are very pleased to have Kier Transportation as our new partner to maintain our network – they met all our key criteria and have some exciting proposals to take the service further in terms of carbon reduction, efficiency and maximizing social value for our communities.” he said
The council said it had a “fantastic” relationship with Milestone Infrastructure, but the end of the contract offered an opportunity to do something new when the reins are handed over next April.
“Now more than ever, it is vital that we have a financially resilient service that is profitable, as well as being flexible and agile, attracting the best people and embracing new technology to enable innovation,” Rigby said.
