North Northamptonshire Council identifies Kier as their future highways service provider

01 June 2022

Following a thorough procurement process, North Northamptonshire Council has identified Kier as the preferred bidder for their new highways contract.

This will be the first Highways contract to be awarded since the council came into existence in April last year.

Worth approximately £30m a year, it is one of the highest value contracts awarded by the Council and is set to run for seven years, with the potential to extend to a maximum of 14 years. 

Since April 2021, Highways maintenance has been delivered Northamptonshire-wide by KierWSP under arrangements inherited from the previous county council. Starting afresh from the previous arrangement, the new contract has been significantly updated to align with the challenges faced today and over the next decade and beyond.

The deal has been drawn up to ensure that there is provision for a safe, legal, customer-focused and value for money service while also making tangible contributions to the Council’s commitment to social value and its response to climate change and protecting the environment.

This whole procurement process started with a blank slate and resulted in four bidders competing to win the contract. Kier successfully won the procurement exercise by submitting a bid that offered the best value for money and highest quality Highways service for the people of North Northants.

​​​​​​The new contract is very much tailored towards meeting the challenges that we are currently facing and those over the coming years and we are confident that all the ingredients are in place for the delivery of the service.

Having the right highways infrastructure is the cornerstone for so many of our wider services and is pivotal in helping make the area a great place in which to live and work.Cllr Graham Lawman, North Northamptonshire Council Executive member for Highways, Travel and Assets,

The purpose of this procurement exercise has been to ensure we appoint a provider that can offer the best value for money for our residents. I am looking forward to working with Kier to ensure residents receive a high-quality highways service. This is an exciting new chapter in North Northamptonshire and I’m looking forward to seeing improvements made to the network over the coming months and years.

A fit-for-purpose Highways contract is essential in the delivery of so many of our services and vital if we are going to move towards being net carbon zero by 2030.Cllr Jason Smithers, Leader of the Council

Highways maintenance had been delivered Northamptonshire-wide under arrangements inherited from the previous county council and the new plans will instead see North Northamptonshire Council and neighbouring West Northamptonshire Council run their own separate contracts and services. 

However as West Northamptonshire Council has also appointed Kier – this allows for some economies of scale to take place through sharing some administrative functions and contract management roles.

Both North and West Northants councils had worked closely on the process for procuring the new highways contracts, which started in November 2020 and has involved several selection stages to narrow down and shortlist prospective suppliers.

The decision for North Northamptonshire was made under delegated authority by the Council’s Executive Member for Highways, Travel and Assets, in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance and the Executive Director for Place and Economy and the Monitoring Officer.

The new contract is due to start on September 12, 2022.