Cheshire dumps Jarvis in favour of Nuttall

Jarvis has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and lost Cheshire County Council’s £140m seven-year highways maintenance deal to Edmund Nuttall.

At the end of May, the council named Jarvis as its preferred contractor to continue working on the term-maintenance project ahead of Nuttall, the only remaining contender left in the race.

But in an extraordinary move, only days after awarding the project, the council called the decision in under its procedural rules.

In a statement, the council has now said that its decision to let the deal to Nuttall “followed a careful and detailed analysis of the current position of Jarvis”.

A council spokesman said that the debt-laden contractor “has fulfilled the contract for the past seven years and the decision has not been taken lightly”. No one at the council was prepared to comment further.

A source close to the project told CJ: “You can understand why the council got cold feet about awarding the contract to Jarvis. But it could come in for a lot of criticism if it turns out that Jarvis, which is the present incumbent, doesn’t go bust.”

• Ringway has replaced Jarvis on Bracknell Forest Borough Council's £50m highways term maintenance contract. Jarvis is the incumbent contractor. A project insider said: "The council didn't even ask Jarvis to rebid when the scheme came up for grabs again."