6 December 2011

Costain’s strong reputation as a supplier of choice in the highways sector was recognised at a major highways awards ceremony last week with the Company, along with its joint venture partners, winning four out of the five categories at the Highways Agency Supplier Recognition ceremony.

This is the first year of the Highways Agency’s new supplier recognition scheme, which highlighted the important contribution made by the Agency’s suppliers in supporting the operation, maintenance and improvement of the strategic road network in England. The awards also acknowledged the efforts of suppliers who had shown a leading performance and delivered the highest level of customer service.

Suppliers including joint ventures, lower tiers, small and medium sized enterprises from all aspects of the Highways Agency business, were invited to be recognised in five key business areas, which formed the five categories for the awards.

In total, there were 80 award entries from 27 different suppliers. As a company that is responsible for maintaining one in every three miles of the nation’s strategic roads on behalf of the Highways Agency, Costain was recognised in its own right, as well as with Carillion, its M1 Junction 10-13 joint venture partner, and AOne+, a joint venture between Costain, Colas and Halcrow, for the following awards:

-         Managing down cost/improving value: Awarded to suppliers that demonstrated significant achievement in mobilising all their talents and resources to deliver smarter and more efficient ways of working in delivering Highways Agency contracts. Awarded to:  AOne+, for providing cost savings across four MAC contracts covering about a third of the strategic network;

-         Supply Chain Management:  Awarded to suppliers that had embedded the Highways Agency’s strategic agenda, values and principles through their supply chains. Awarded to: Costain for supply chain integration in the delivery of the M53 Bidston Moss scheme.

-         Health and Safety: Awarded to suppliers that showed industry leading commitment to improving corporate and workforce health and safety. Awarded to:  Costain Carillion JV, for employee occupational health and welfare on the M1 Junction 10 to 13 contract; and to Costain for the health and safety practices put in place in delivery of the M53 Bidston Moss scheme, which achieved zero RIDDOR-reportable incidents in the last 1.1m worked hours.

-         Building & Sustaining Capability: Awarded to suppliers that have created opportunities to bring people into the workplace and develop skills and capabilities through delivery of Highways Agency contracts. Awarded to:  AOne+, for creating opportunities to enter the workplace and developing employees’ skills and capabilities through the delivery of four MAC contracts.

Graham Dalton, Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, said:

“Our vision is to build on our already world-class reputation, to be recognised as the world’s leading road operator; that means working in close partnership with our suppliers to meet the diverse needs of our customers – road users and the communities we serve.

“Both the number and quality of the entries we received for these awards demonstrate the importance which our suppliers place on the performance they deliver – and by recognising their industry-leading performance, and encouraging our supply family to share best practice, we are showing that we’re proud to acknowledge their dedication and innovation on our behalf.”

Commenting on the awards, Tim Bowen, Costain Highways Director, said: “We are delighted to have been recognised, along with our joint venture partners, by the Highways Agency in their Supplier Recognition Awards which emphasises our ongoing commitment to the Agency and to the highways sector, and our expertise in delivering innovative solutions to our customers.”

 

Ends