Award

Asset Delivery (AD) Area 13 Maintenance & Response (M&R) Contract

  • National Highways

F15: Voluntary ex ante transparency notice

Notice identifier: 2025/S 000-047883

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-0585b6

Published 12 August 2025, 10:05am



Section one: Contracting authority/entity

one.1) Name and addresses

National Highways

Bridge House, Walnut Tree Close

Guildford

GU1 4LZ

Email

info@nationalhighways.co.uk

Telephone

+44 03001235000

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UK - United Kingdom

Internet address(es)

Main address

www.nationalhighways.co.uk

one.4) Type of the contracting authority

National or federal Agency/Office

one.5) Main activity

General public services


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

Asset Delivery (AD) Area 13 Maintenance & Response (M&R) Contract

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 45233139 - Highway maintenance work

two.1.3) Type of contract

Works

two.1.4) Short description

This VEAT Notice relates to a Deed of Variation to a National Highways' Maintenance and Response Contract. This Contract currently provides and undertakes all cyclical and reactive maintenance, incident response, defect rectification and severe weather delivery on the trunk roads and motorways within Cumbria & Lancashire (National Highways Area 13) (the "Contract"). Duties also include maintenance of roadside technology, the provision of traffic management for the contractor, maintenance and incident response activities, and traffic management for others who may be working on the network.

The variation will add a section of the A69 from the M6 Junction to the County boundary into the Contract which is currently maintained under a Design Build Finance & Operate ("DBFO") contract which is due to expire on 31 March 2026. Consequently the total value of the Contract will increase by approximately 59%. It will also shorten the Contract which will have a new end date of 6 June 2029 instead of 31 March 2032 in order to align with the procurement process for the next Maintenance & Response contracts.

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)

Value excluding VAT: £242,590,000

two.2) Description

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 45233130 - Construction work for highways
  • 45233139 - Highway maintenance work
  • 45233140 - Roadworks
  • 45233141 - Road-maintenance works
  • 45310000 - Electrical installation work
  • 71300000 - Engineering services

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom
Main site or place of performance

Cumbria & Lancashire

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

The Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) contract covers Section of A69 to Cumbria/ Northumberland county boundary and is due to expire on 31 March 2026. National Highways therefore must appoint an alternative maintenance contractor and it considers that the scope of these works is already included within this existing Maintenance and Response Contract. Therefore these roads will be incorporated into the existing Maintenance and Response (M&R) Contract for Area 13 of the Strategic Road Network following the award of the Deed of Variation. This together with the need for national alignment of the M&R contracts, ready for their next iteration, means that the term of the Area 13 M&R Contract will be shortened and will have a new end date of 6th June 2029 instead of 31st March 2032. These changes will increase the awarded value from £ 153,000,000 to £ 242,590,000.

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: No

two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds

The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Description

four.1.1) Type of procedure

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below

  • The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the regulations

Explanation:

The modifications to the Contract fall within the permissible grounds set out under Regulation 72(1)(e) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 in that the modifications are not substantial within the meaning of Regulation 72(8) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 because:

The inclusion of Design Build Finance and Operate (DBFO) roads into the Contract and the extension of term does not render the Contract materially different compared to when it was originally procured.

The type of work originally required of the Contract (i.e. maintenance and response) is the same as that which it will carry out on the previous DBFO stretches of the Strategic Road Network, it is just a case that the total lane coverage to be maintained under the Contract increases. The original procured value was also £412,040,970 so the increase in value is also within the expectations of the original procurement.

The extension of term is to align all M&R Contracts to enable an efficient and consistent re-procurement of the programme.

Adding the additional roads and the extension of terms would not have changed the outcome of the original procurement in any way. The Contract will be fully operated in accordance with their current terms and pricing so scores would not have differed and any successful operator would be offered the extension to ensure alignment with the wider M&R procurement programme. Again, the value remains within the original advertised value;

As the current Contract will be operated for the new roads on the same terms and pricing, this does not alter the economic balance of the Contract in favour of the contractor. The additional works during the extended term will be on the same pricing;

The change does not considerably alter the scope of the Contract as the works and services provided will remain unchanged, the new value is still below the originally advertised value and the roads have been included in this Contract because they are adjacent in terms of geographical scope also;

This is not a change in contractor.

The Deed of Variation ensures continuity of service on the Strategic Road Network and aligns with National Highways' wider asset delivery and procurement strategy, thereby safeguarding public value and network integrity. The Contract is being shortened to better align with the re-procurement strategy for all Maintenance & Response contracts. It would provide significant technical difficulties and duplication of procurement costs for National Highways to procure a contractor simply for this short stretch of network given the current re-procurement strategy.

four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

four.2) Administrative information

four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure

Notice number: 2016/S 017-024945


Section five. Award of contract/concession

A contract/lot is awarded: Yes

five.2) Award of contract/concession

five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract

8 June 2017

five.2.2) Information about tenders

The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No

five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire

Kier Highways Limited

Temsford Hall, Sandy

Bedfordshire

SG19 2BD

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code
  • UK - United Kingdom
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME

No

five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)

Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £242,590,000

five.2.5) Information about subcontracting

The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted


Section six. Complementary information

six.4) Procedures for review

six.4.1) Review body

National Highways

Bridge House, Walnut Tree Close

Guildford

GU1 4LZ

Country

United Kingdom