LONDON, May 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

The Midlands Highway Alliance (MHA) has awarded AECOM, the global integrated infrastructure services company, and its supply partner Waterman Group, a £30-million Professional Services Partnership (PSP) contract to deliver multidisciplinary professional design services. Under the three-year contract, which has the option to be extended by an additional year, AECOM and Waterman will support the 20 councils that are members of the MHA on highway projects across the Midlands.

Under the previous four-year PSP contract, which was held by AECOM, MHA member councils benefited from more than £2.7 million in savings. Formed in 2007, the MHA was the first partnership of its kind in the UK. The alliance creates opportunities for local councils to collaborate in order to reduce costs and generate efficiency improvements in the delivery of highway services, as well as share best practices.

The new PSP contract will involve AECOM teams from six offices across the region working in partnership with Waterman Group's secondment services division, involving secondment of 70 professional and technical staff. Together, the two companies will deliver a range of services, including major highway improvements, maintenance and road safety projects, town centre regeneration schemes and transport studies. Work starts immediately, with AECOM and Waterman working as part of an integrated team with MHA members to enhance their in-house design capabilities.

Phil Crossland, Chairman of the MHA, said: "On behalf of the MHA, I am delighted to confirm that AECOM, working with their partners, Waterman, have been awarded the Professional Services Partnership. The previous partnership was seen as a great success, and this award will allow our member authorities to continue to benefit from having access to the resources and expertise of one of the largest consultancies in the world. Work is starting on developing the ambitious plans for improving the partnership that were outlined in AECOM's tender, and I look forward to the relationship going from strength to strength."

Rory Poole, Director of Network Operations and Traffic at AECOM, said: "Winning the new PSP contract will enable us to build on the success of the previous four years, where the team delivered a range of successful projects and generated £2.7 million in savings for councils in the Midlands. We look forward to working with the MHA to help members deliver schemes that will benefit communities across the region."

Chris Chaplin, MD of Waterman Aspen, the specialist secondment division within Waterman Group, commented: "We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with AECOM and members of the MHA for at least a further three years and build upon the success the partnership has achieved to date. The successful relationship we have developed with AECOM reinforces both companies' position as market leaders in the delivery of highways and municipal engineering services in the Midlands."

Under the previous PSP contract, the AECOM team delivered services for a variety of schemes in the MHA region. These include detailed design and site supervision for the A1139 Fletton Parkway project to improve capacity along the busy commuter route in Peterborough, as well as planning and design services for a new railway station in Ilkeston. Another MHA scheme, which encouraged people to use environmentally friendly travel options, won the prestigious sustainability award at the 2014 Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) awards.

About AECOM 

AECOM is a premier, fully integrated professional and technical services firm positioned to design, build, finance and operate infrastructure assets around the world for public- and private-sector clients. With nearly 100,000 employees - including architects, engineers, designers, planners, scientists and management and construction services professionals - serving clients in over 150 countries around the world, AECOM is ranked as the #1 engineering design firm by revenue in Engineering News-Record magazine's annual industry rankings, and has been recognized by Fortune magazine as a World's Most Admired Company. The firm is a leader in all of the key markets that it serves, including transportation, facilities, environmental, energy, oil and gas, water, high-rise buildings and government. AECOM provides a blend of global reach, local knowledge, innovation and technical excellence in delivering customized and creative solutions that meet the needs of clients' projects. A Fortune 500 firm, AECOM companies, including URS Corporation and Hunt Construction Group, had revenue of approximately $19 billion during the 12 months ended March 31, 2015. More information on AECOM and its services can be found at http://www.aecom.com.

About Waterman Group 

Waterman Group is a multi-disciplinary consultancy providing sustainable solutions to meet the planning, engineering design and project delivery needs of the property, infrastructure, environment and energy markets. Founded in 1952 and listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1988, Waterman has grown into a leading engineering and environmental consultancy with offices throughout the UK, Europe and Australia. Waterman works with government agencies, local authorities, government-regulated industries and private sector clients to provide innovative, sustainable and economic solutions across a wide spectrum of business activities. The firm has extensive experience in property and buildings, environmental consultancy, power and energy, municipal engineering, highways and rail infrastructure, urban and regional planning. Award winning teams provide professional services throughout the complete life cycle of the asset starting from initial surveys and concept planning, through to design, delivery, project management, supervision and on-going maintenance. Waterman Aspen is the Group's Specialist Secondment Services division which provides secondment of professional and technical staff at all levels to Consultants, Contractors, Local Authorities and other Public Sector organisations. Aspen employ more than 400 staff on short and long term secondments throughout the UK. See more information on http://www.watermangroup.com.

About the MHA 

The Midlands Highways Alliance was formed in July 2007 and was the first partnership of its kind in the UK. It has gone from strength to strength. Seen as an exemplar by the National Audit Office in 2010, the MHA is now being used as the model for regional alliances being set up across the country.

Membership for the Midlands Highways Alliance has doubled from the original 10 authorities to the present 20 (April 2015). Initially its work was supported by a grant from the Department for Transport (DfT) but it is now fully self-funded from a mixture of member subscriptions and levies on the use of our frameworks.

The MHA's objective aims are to work together to improve performance, share best practice and make efficiency savings in the delivery of highway services. Over the last seven years it estimates its activities in developing collaborative frameworks have saved MHA member authorities an estimated £4million a year.

It work under five workstreams: Medium Schemes, Term Maintenance, Professional Services, Assets, Standards and Commodities and Skills Academy. These workstreams are looking at innovative projects and sharing best practice that will help contribute to generating more efficiencies. The MHA recognises the value in collaborative working, both between authorities, and with the whole of the highway sector, and look to develop close relationships with both contractors and suppliers. Leicestershire County Council acts as the host authority for the alliance, providing financial management support, communications support and by employing four MHA staff.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Muna Al-Azzawi, Head of External Communications
AECOM
muna.al-azzawi@aecom.com
+44(0)20-7798-5158

Susan Nilsson, Director of Communications
Waterman Group
susan.nilsson@watermangroup.com
+44(0)-7467-955-513

SOURCE Waterman Group PLC