Amey, the support services specialist, has been awarded a £300 million strategic partnership by Cumbria County Council to deliver efficient highways maintenance and other related services over a seven-year period commencing 1st April 2005.
On Thursday 18th November 2004 the County Council voted in favour of the appointment of Amey under the Council’s Strategic Partnership for Highways Activities. Benefits will include savings of £7 million over the life of the contract, as well as improved highways maintenance delivery for communities and taxpayers throughout the Cumbrian region.
At contract commencement, 400 employees will transfer to Amey from Cumbria County Council’s Contract Services Construction Unit. The contract is a major element of the Council’s ‘Invest to Save and Improve” programme (ISI).
Amey will be responsible for the maintenance of approximately 7,700 kilometres of highway, 1,700 bridges and 44,000 street lights. In addition the transfer of Cumbria Contract Services Construction Unit to Amey will include engineering laboratory services and environmental design and the management and maintenance of 1,000 vehicles and items of plant and equipment, together with grounds maintenance and sign manufacturing.
Mel Ewell, Chief Executive of Amey, said:
"This is great news for Amey and we look forward to working in close partnership with Cumbria County Council, blending our respective skills and expertise to provide first class services and, through sustainable business growth, allowing increasing and long-term employment for the people of Cumbria."
Tim Stoddard, leader of Cumbria County Council, said:
"We are building excellent working relationships with Amey and today's decision means we can get on with the practical aspects of delivering modern efficient highways services. As a county council we will work closely with both Amey and our strategic partner Capita to ensure a smooth transition for the new arrangements. That will see significant capital investment in the business, improve both job security and prospects for employees and of course provide better services for the people of this county."
Notes to editors:
1. Amey is a leading provider of integrated business and infrastructure services to the public and private sector and is working closely with central and local government to develop major projects including PFI and PPP projects, in the education, health, transport and defence sectors. Services range from managing large scale transportation infrastructure to delivering professional and back office services, all of which are underpinned by leading-edge technology and a genuine partnering philosophy. Amey Infrastructure Services Limited is the operating division that will form the strategic partnership working with Cumbria County Council.
2. Amey Infrastructure Services (AIS) is the newly formed business division of Amey PLC that will focus on providing comprehensive end-to-end service solutions, on a national basis, to a wide range of infrastructure clients. AIS brings together the strengths and capabilities of the well-established and successful Amey Highways, Amey Rail and Amey Fleet Services businesses into a single integrated organisation.
The new organisation is structured to deliver services through five business streams:
Professional Services, Strategic Highways, Rail, Local Government and Operational Services
3. AIS is the UK’s leading provider of integrated highway design, management and maintenance services for local and central government clients in England and Scotland.
4. Highway and streetlighting services for local government include Walsall MBC, Wakefield MDC, City of York, Wolverhampton MBC, Calderdale MBC, Manchester City Council, Portsmouth City Council, Halton Borough Council, Hertfordshire County Council, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire. We deliver services to over 3.6 million people.
5. AIS operates two contracts in Southwest and Southeast Scotland for the Scottish Executive,
managing and maintaining the trunk roads network.
6. AIS in joint venture with MouchelParkman, operating as the service provider AmeyMouchel manages and maintains five Highways Agency's contracts. AmeyMouchel currently manages and maintains the Highways Agency’s Area 13 contract that includes the motorways and trunk road in Cumbria and North Lancashire.
7. AIS is responsible for the management and/or maintenance of more than half a million streetlights, making it one of the largest street lighting service providers in the UK.
8. AIS provides an end to end highway service for clients delivering design and professional services, employing over 300 design and engineering professionals. AIS has the largest highway design team in Scotland.
9. AIS operates a groundbreaking Public Private Partnership with North Lanarkshire Council providing services as Amey Roads (North Lanarkshire) Ltd.
10. Achievements this year include winning a prestigious ENCAMS award, organised by Keep Britain Tidy, which was awarded for the innovative approach towards tackling litter and refuse in Portsmouth. Working together with Portsmouth City Council over the last eight years, Amey has established the street cleansing benchmark for other to follow. Amey and Portsmouth City Council have worked in partnership over the last eight years and beat stiff competition from approximately 170 local authorities and land managers to win the award.
11. A partnership between AIS and Hertfordshire County Council, Hertfordshire Highways has also been awarded the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Innovation of the Year 2004, which recognises excellence and innovation in local government. Hertfordshire Highways employs more than 1000 people who work together in shared offices, delivering integrated and coordinated highway and street lighting services for Hertfordshire County Council. The partnership that was created in October 2002 is estimated to have made cost savings of over £200,000 in the first year of operation.