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BTU, a newly-established joint venture between civil engineering contractors Barhale and Trant Construction, has been awarded a multi-million pound framework agreement with Southern Water.
The six-year repair and maintenance programme for Hampshire and West Sussex covers the tail end of Southern Water’s current Asset Management Plans (AMP 4) programme and the five-year AMP 5 contract. There is an option for a renewal for the subsequent five-year AMP 6 framework subject to satisfactory performance.
BTU was established by Barhale Construction plc and Southampton-based Trant, two leading providers of infrastructure services to the water industry in the UK. The joint venture is commercially separate to the Barhale and Trant companies, from which it has spun out of. BTU takes its title from the initials of the two partners and the word ‘utilities’.
BTU will carry out mechanical and electrical improvements at hundreds of Southern Water assets, such as treatment works and pumping stations, from now until 2020. A three-month transitional programme is under way, with BTU effectively operational from July 1.
Contracts were signed on April 7. Operations will be based at Havant, near Portsmouth, with an estimated 40 office staff and a further 120 employees and contractors in the field. The BTU contract relates broadly to Southern Water’s western region – Hampshire and West Sussex.
Barhale chairman Dennis Curran and Trant chairman Patrick Trant said in a joint statement:
“Southern Water has incredibly high standards and we’re thrilled that we met the rigorous framework criteria.
“It is testament to BTU’s collective expertise, acquired through Barhale and Trant’s extensive water industry experience, that the client selected us above other competitors.
“This contract is great news for staff at newly-formed BTU and it provides an opportunity to establish BTU as a one of the UK’s leading water infrastructure specialists.
“Our respective staffs have worked incredibly hard over the best part of a year to make this the contract a reality – our goal now is to deliver first-class results to the client by maintaining the condition and performance of Southern Water’s assets.”
Southern Water’s chief executive, Les Dawson, said:
“It is essential that the suppliers we engage to work on our behalf, not only deliver a service which is of the highest standard, but also share Southern Water’s ethos of having customers at the heart of its business.”
BTU’s framework director will be David Welch, who is Barhale’s current regional manager, and Sean Jordan, the contracts manager for the mechanical and electrical engineering arm of Trant, will be operations director.
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