One year on from the start of its highways' contract with Surrey County Council, May Gurney has secured £7.3 million of savings for the local authority, fully achieving its cost saving and all financial targets in the first year of the contract.

May Gurney was appointed by Surrey County Council in April 2012 to provide core maintenance, surface treatment, gritting services and flood prevention across the county’s 4,776km of roads, for a £19.5m per annum contract.

The significant savings have been achieved by May Gurney and Surrey County Council working in partnership to simplify road repair processes through more efficient work planning and doing work right first time. May Gurney has helped to develop a new fault reporting system that allows road users to report and track problems, providing transparency and accountability for Surrey County Council, local residents and businesses.

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Surrey County Council and May Gurney have also embraced new working patterns including reducing administration around road repairs and empowering crews to use a commonsense approach to making minor repairs, through ‘seek-and-fix’, allowing crews to fill pot holes as they find them, rather than having to report the problem and then wait for a works order.

In the first year of the contract, May Gurney has also responded to 4,237 emergency call outs, delivered through dedicated Emergency Response teams, and in the past six months 98% of defects have been repaired permanently within the 28-day deadline.

Working as part of Surrey Highways, May Gurney has also played a vital role in preparing infrastructure across Surrey for the London 2012 Olympic Games. In preparation for the men's and women's Cycling Road Races, and Individual Time Trial events, May Gurney temporarily widened Zig Zag Road (south side), reconstructed the footway and resurfaced part of Old London Road at Boxhill in Dorking. May Gurney also supplied cones and 1,200 ‘Advanced Warning’ signs for the races.

(CD/GK)