More than 130 new starters have been welcomed by infrastructure, highways and public services provider, Amey, as the Area 12 Maintenance and Response (M&R) contract by Highways England goes live.

The eight-year contract worth £22.5m per annum, was awarded to Amey on 1st December 2020 and from today, will see Amey responsible for the network covering Yorkshire and Humberside, providing all routine and cyclic maintenance on the trunk roads and motorway network.

Amey teams will be responsible for incident management, defect rectification and responding to severe weather. The teams will also oversee traffic management during incidents and the operation of the ten maintenance depots in the region.

Andy Denman, Sector Director for Highways at Amey, said: "I'm excited that today the Area 12 contract goes live. I'm looking forward to working alongside the team and collaboratively with Highways England, building on the experience we've gained through our Area 7 and Area 10 contracts.

-- Advertisement --

"Covid has made the mobilisation on this contract challenging, but I'm confident that we have all the processes in place to deliver the service effectively, efficiently and more importantly, safely from day one."

The network spans 1,650km of motorway, 476km of trunk road (dual), 179km of trunk road (single carriageway) and 1,963 structures.

Simon Boyle, Head of Service Delivery in Highways England's Yorkshire and North East region, said: "Highways England already has a great relationship with Amey thanks to the collaborative work we do with them in other parts of the country. We are delighted to start this new contract and to welcome their new teams to Yorkshire and Humberside. We look forward to working with them to ensure a well-managed and well-maintained strategic road network for the benefit of all our customers."

The Area 12 contract builds on Amey's work with Highways England that includes Area 7 and 10 Maintenance and Response contracts, the Avonmouth and Severn Bridges, Specialist Bridge Inspection and Maintenance contract, Amey Consulting's design contracts and A66, as well as larger design and build contracts with partner Sir Robert McAlpine and an FM contract to provide facilities and asset management across Highways England extensive and growing operational estate.