Planning

Essex Highways Maintenance Contract

ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 6 releases in its history.

PlanningUpdate

28 Oct 2025 at 13:50

PlanningUpdate

28 Oct 2025 at 13:46

PlanningUpdate

04 Aug 2025 at 15:00

Planning

09 Jun 2025 at 10:21

PlanningUpdate

08 Apr 2025 at 08:37

Planning

02 Apr 2025 at 14:34

Summary of the contracting process

Essex County Council is actively planning to procure a contractor for the Essex Highways Maintenance Contract, with an anticipated start date of 1 April 2027. This significant procurement initiative will cover the maintenance of the County's highways and associated assets under the Highways Act 1980. The competitive flexible procedure will be used for this procurement, which falls under the 'works' category and is valued at approximately £2.5 billion (gross value £3 billion). The project will involve both reactive and planned maintenance across Essex's extensive highway network and assets, including design and delivery of improvement schemes. Significant opportunities for engagement have been structured through virtual market sessions as of 2025, with the next update planned after the Council's Scrutiny Committee meeting. This project is aligned with Essex County Council’s growth agenda, supporting both the community and the local economy.

This tender represents a major business opportunity in the construction and maintenance sector, particularly for firms specialising in highways, roads, and large-scale infrastructure projects. Potential contractors who are proactive in embracing innovations, new technologies, and best practice methods will be well-positioned to compete for this contract. Architectural, engineering, and inspection service providers will also find relevant opportunities within this undertaking. By aligning closely with Essex County Council's strategic policies and demonstrating a commitment to continual service improvement, businesses can leverage this opportunity to enhance their portfolio, contribute to important local initiatives, and expand their footprint in public sector contracting.

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Notice Title

Essex Highways Maintenance Contract

Notice Description

Essex County Council's (the Council) current Highways Strategic Transformation Contract (Highways Contract) ends on the 31 March 2027. ECC is subsequently seeking a Contractor to maintain the County's highways and other associated assets in accordance with responsibilities under the Highways Act 1980, from 1 April 2027. The Contractor will undertake reactive and planned maintenance, that delivers best value with the resources available, across all of ECC's highway network and on all highway assets. This will include design and delivery of improvement schemes. The Contractor will deliver the service in line with the Client's corporate policies and strategic plans, and will support communities and the local economy through network maintenance and improvement to meet the Client's growth agenda and related plans and strategies. The Contractor will be expected to proactively embrace and implement best practice, innovations and new technologies enabling the service to continually improve.

Planning Information

Update Provided 04/08/2025 Prospective bidders are invited to attend a virtual market engagement session via Microsoft Teams on Wednesday 3rd September 2025 at 11:30am. The session is expected to last up to 45 minutes and will provide an update on ECC's procurement approach. If you would like to attend please send your expression of interest to FHP.Team@essex.gov.uk including the names and email addresses for attendees from your organisation. All external attendees will be anonymous and will have the opportunity to raise written anonymised questions during the event. An agenda will be provided within the invitation to the session by the 27th August 2025. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Previous Information (now expired) We have the opportunity during the week commencing Monday 28th April 2025 for prospective bidders to meet with representatives from ECC's Future Highways Programme. These 1-2-1 sessions will be a two-way exercise, providing an opportunity for you to have further questions about the next highways contract answered, but also to provide you with an opportunity to help us in designing the new contract. The sessions will be face-to-face only, limited to 1.5 hours per supplier and will take place in County Hall, Chelmsford, CM1 1QH. Suppliers are invited to bring a maximum of four attendees to the 1-2-1 sessions. ECC representatives will be: - Tom Blackburne-Maze (Director of Highways & Transport) - Arthur Macklin (Programme Director) - Tony Clissold (Head of Procurement) - Dawn Grover (Procurement Specialist) - A notetaker If you are a prospective bidder and are interested in having a 1-2-1, please follow the Microsoft Form link https://forms.office.com/e/i8wFeaC2u4 to request a session, advise on attendees and raise any questions in advance that you would like to discuss with us, by close of business on Wednesday 9th April 2025. You may need to copy and paste the link into your browser. The Agenda for the 1-2-1 sessions is set out within the Microsoft Form. Slots will be allocated on a first come first served basis and we will try to accommodate any dates/time preferences as best we can. Please advise on your preferences via the Microsoft Form link. Important information: We will provide feedback on the questions raised in advance by suppliers (via https://forms.office.com/e/i8wFeaC2u4), where we consider providing an answer is in the best interest of the procurement process. Responses will be drafted in advance to ensure the same information is shared with all suppliers. Please note, for transparency purposes, details regarding non-confidential topics/questions discussed during the 1-2-1 sessions will be noted and subsequently shared with all prospective bidders via email. We will be unable to take any other questions on the day and will only answer those raised prior to the 1-2-1s. Technology To inform your understanding of the proposed technology landscape for the new contract as well as the technology responsibilities and touchpoints/interactions under the future contract, we have provided a short presentation for your review: https://youtu.be/32ZFVKcQDZA Should you have further technology-specific questions, these can be raised along with any general procurement/contract questions within the Microsoft Form link above. Subject to the number of questions raised these may be covered in the 1-2-1s or a subsequent Q&A log will be circulated to our prospective bidder list. For reference, previous Prior Information Notices issued under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (old notices) associated with this project can be located via the following notice identifiers: F01. 2023/S 000-017107, F01. 2023/S 000-027435, F01. 2024/S 000-012457, F14. 2025/S 000-003014 Important information Respondents are advised that the purpose of this notice is to engage directly with the market. The Procurement description, estimated contract start and end date, estimated date of publication or estimated contract value should not be taken as a final "version" of ECC's requirements. This notice is not a call for competition to procure any works or services. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response, or lack thereof, to this notice. Nor shall a response to this notice guarantee an opportunity to participate in this market engagement exercise or any future procurement process that ECC may conduct. Essex County Council is not liable for any costs, fees or expenses incurred by any party responding to this notice or any party who may participate in the market engagement exercise.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-04fc31
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/068984-2025
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Works
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

45 - Construction work

50 - Repair and maintenance services

71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services


CPV Codes

45233000 - Construction, foundation and surface works for highways, roads

50230000 - Repair, maintenance and associated services related to roads and other equipment

71000000 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,500,000,000 £1B-£10B
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
28 Oct 20253 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
31 Oct 2025Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
31 Mar 2027 - 31 Mar 2034 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planned
Lots Status
Planned
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
fhp.team@essex.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
CHELMSFORD
Postcode
CM1 1QH
Post Town
Chelmsford
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLH East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLH3 Essex
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLH36 Heart of Essex
Delivery Location
TLH3 Essex

Local Authority
Chelmsford
Electoral Ward
Moulsham and Central
Westminster Constituency
Chelmsford

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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