Atkins wins £400m+ highways maintenance deal

Atkins has surfaced as preferred bidder for a highways maintenance deal with Somerset County Council, potentially worth £400m-plus.

Sources say that Atkins and Ringway went head-to-head in the final run-in for the job, which is Atkins’ third maintenance win in a row with Somerset.

The firm first scooped the job in 1996, then was re-appointed to the project in 2003.

The new contract starts on site next April. The job is known as highways works 2010-2015, but it could run for 10 years and be worth around £414m to the winning contractor.

According to the council: "The contract could be increased to 10 years, either in one go or in stages.

"The chosen method will depend on what prices Atkins comes up with and on the relationship between the contractor and the council."

Sonia Davidson-Grant, corporate environment director with the council said: "The competition was extremely strong, but in the end Atkins clearly came out on top in terms of delivering a quality service at a competitive price.

The contract includes highways maintenance such as resurfacing and pothole repairs, plus winter services such as gritting, drainage and verge cutting.

Atkins is also likely to work on road building projects and carry out some highway-related operations currently carried out by five distrct councils.

Four other outfits also pitched for the scheme - Balfour Beatty, May Gurney, Carillion and Enterprise (which bought out Accord in 2007).