FM Conway win £56 million highways contract

Company secures seven-year contract to deliver surfacing work for East Sussex County Council

INFRASTRUCTURE services company FM Conway have won a £56 million contract to deliver highways surfacing work for East Sussex County Council, working as a sub-contractor to Costain/CH2M.

The contract is a seven-year agreement worth around £8 million per annum, which commenced on 1 May 2016. FM Conway are a sub-contractor to the 50:50 joint venture, which was confirmed as the main contractor for East Sussex’s highways services contract earlier this year.

It is the first time that FM Conway have worked on a county council contract, with the majority of the company’s existing surfacing contracts being with the London boroughs. The contract will see FM Conway delivering resurfacing, maintenance and machine patching projects, working closely with the Costain/CH2M JV.

Mike Betchley, operations director at FM Conway, said: ‘This is a milestone success for FM Conway, progressing our expansion into new regions with new clients, outside of our core London market. It continues a period of remarkable growth, which has seen us significantly increase both profit and turnover year on year over the past decade.

‘We have always held the belief that our self-delivery model has the potential to bring huge benefits to local authorities outside of London as well as in the capital – the fact that this was one of the decisive factors in securing us this flagship county council contract has proved us correct.’

Dave Bailey, service director at East Sussex Highways, said: ‘We had extremely positive engagement with FM Conway throughout the procurement process. Their flexibility, willingness to invest in the area and commitment to innovation and self-delivery will deliver long-lasting benefits to the county council over the coming years, making them the logical choice for this contract.’

FM Conway are already looking at a number of innovations that will be introduced across the East Sussex contract to improve delivery and efficiency for the county council. A trial is currently under way to use a non-invasive Rhinopatch technique for highways maintenance works which could deliver significant improvements in materials usage and speed of delivery.

Across the contract and in conjunction with Costain and CH2M, FM Conway will also be introducing their own proprietary range of highways products – including their Enviro range of asphalt base and binder products – to help East Sussex County Council improve the sustainability credentials of its highways and limit the use of primary aggregates by at least 15%.

FM Conway are currently promoting a number of new job opportunities to support the East Sussex contract and will be introducing a new apprenticeship initiative in the county to create opportunities for young people to begin a career in construction.