The final two contracts have been awarded as part of Highways England’s new delivery arrangements in the East Midlands.

This means all key Area 7 contracts are now in place ahead of Highways England bringing asset and operational management functions back in house in the region from 1st July 2016.

The contract for structural inspections has been awarded to Derby-based Rogers Structural Inspections, which was acquired by Aspin in October 2014. This has an estimated value of up to £3m, running for up to five years.

The contract for weather forecasting has been awarded to the Met Office. This is expected to be worth £1m and run for a minimum of three years.

The signing of these two latest contracts follows the appointment of suppliers to the new framework for delivering construction works in the East Midlands last month. The framework provides for a range of services, including pavement, drainage, landscaping and general civil engineering.

To mark the changes in delivery, Highways England recently held a launch event with its supply chain at its new office in Mansfield.   Alongside the newly appointed construction works contractors, the event was attended by representatives from the maintenance and response contractor, Amey, and the design services contractor, Kier (Mouchel).

David Poole, director for commercial and procurement at Highways England, said: “Working with our supply chain partners to establish the community will be pivotal to the success of the new approach to asset maintenance and delivery in the East Midlands. I am looking forward to working collaboratively with our new colleagues from the supply chain over the coming months and years.”

The appointed contractors for the Construction Works Framework are: