An invitation to tender for spots on the long-awited £8bn Maintenance and Response 2 framework will go out next month paving the way for a major overhaul of how England’s 4,500-mile strategic road network is maintained. The reset will see the current 10 maintenance contracts replaced as they expire from July 2028.
Firms presently holding areas include Amey, Colas, Costain, Kier and Ringway. Unlike the existing arrangements, just one contractor will be appointed to each of seven regional lots, although all winners will also sit on a national resilience framework to step in if another supplier fails. The contracts cover routine and reactive maintenance, incident response, winter service, roadside technology and asset renewals including road markings, lighting, signs, barriers and fencing. The framework will run from January 2028 to July 2037 and is one of the biggest highways maintenance procurements ever launched in England. Region
Value (£m)
South East
1,094
East
977
North West
953
Yorkshire & North East
902
Midlands West
799
Midlands East
726
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South West
671
Contractors bidding for multiple regions will be asked to rank their preferred lots, allowing National Highways to allocate work using a combination of tender scores and bidder preferences rather than simply awarding every top-scoring lot to the same firm. National Highways has built inflation and contingency into the overall framework value, meaning it exceeds the combined value of the seven regional contracts. Applications close in October with contract awards expected to be made by November 2027.
For more information email National Highways.
