Colas wins £500m PFI contract
10:43 18 Feb 2004
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Colas has netted the UK's first local authority roads maintenance contract to be let under the PFI system in a deal worth £500m.
It has emerged that the client, Portsmouth City Council, secretly named Colas as its preferred bidder for the groundbreaking project last November.
A council source said: "At that time we were still waiting for final confirmation of the extra government funds we needed to get the project off the ground and we couldn't let our two remaining bidders [the other was Amey Highways] know then. It is only now that we feel confident enough to go public on the identity of our preferred bidder."
Ensign Highways, a company owned by Colas and its parent Colas SA, finally emerged victorious after a tortuous process, which began in 2001 and attracted more than 30 contractors and consultants. Portsmouth's deal will run for 25 years, with Colas due to start between October and January 2005.