Buckinghamshire Council has awarded an 8-year contract to Atkins – a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group – to provide design and professional services for the county’s highways. The contract will run from 1 April 2023, when the current Transport for Buckinghamshire arrangements come to an end.

Atkins will work in close collaboration with Buckinghamshire Council and its new maintenance contractor Balfour Beatty Living Places, appointed in July, to support highways maintenance and infrastructure projects across more than 3,000 miles of roads, footpaths and cycle routes.

There is also an option to extend the circa. £36m contract has with Atkins for a further four years subject to excellent performance. The contract will include feasibility, investigation, strategy, planning, design, professional support and site supervision. Throughout the contract, Atkins has committed to delivering continual improvement and value for money, through automation, innovation and the introduction of digital technology.

Atkins will support the council in achieving its 2050 net zero target and is committed to measuring and reducing carbon emissions on highways work through its Whole Life Carbon Management approach. The company achieved company-wide carbon neutrality in 2021 and has its own target for net zero operations by 2030.

Councillor Steven Broadbent, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “We are pleased to have appointed in Atkins a partner committed to providing value for money, searching out innovative ways to better deliver quality services and reducing carbon, which reflects our own goals. They will play an important role in the new arrangements to look after highways in Bucks and over the next few months we will be working with them and Balfour Beatty Living Places to ensure a smooth transition in April next year.”

Mike Batheram, Market Director, Local Transport at Atkins, said: “We look forward to working with Buckinghamshire Council and its partners. This is a significant contract which requires an innovative and flexible approach, as we look to meet the changing needs of Buckinghamshire over the next decade. This landmark win builds on our recent success in resecuring our long-term transport professional services contract with Surrey and our award-winning highways alliance partnerships in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, amongst many others nationally.”