Official UK procurement notice
Interim Highways Services - Birmingham
Authority: Birmingham City Council (Local council)
Sectors: Construction & Civil Engineering (45) Delivery: West Midlands (UKG)
Awarded value£120,000,000published award · exc. VAT
Awarded 21 Jul 2026no call for competition
Awarded to KIER TRANSPORTATION LIMITED, Kier Construction
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionKier Transportation Limited ("Kier") previously provided interim highways maintenance and associated operational services across the Birmingham highways network (the "Services") through an Interim Services Contract ("ISC") with Birmingham City Council's ("the Authority") subcontractor, Birmingham Highways Limited ("BHL"). The ISC novated from BHL to the Authority on 31 July 2026.
The ISC was originally procured in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Following the Department for Transport's recent decision to withdraw its support for the continued funding of the Authority's highways PFI project, the Authority will procure an alternative long-term solution to replace this project. To enable the procurement of this alternative solution, the Authority requires the continued provision of the Services on an interim basis and therefore proposes to enter into a variation agreement to extend the ISC, such that it will expire on 31 July 2028 (or on 30 April 2029 if the Authority exercises an option to extend the ISC set out in the variation agreement). The variation agreement will therefore ensure the continued uninterrupted delivery of critical public services and the continued safety of the public in accordance with the Authority's statutory duties.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Lot 1Awarded
45233139 Highway maintenance work
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award — no call for competition
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 21 Sept 2026, 16:20 BST
- Last source update
- 21 Sept 2026, 16:20 BST
- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06ce46
- Why no open competition
- Urgency; Additional Repeat Extension Partial Replacement
- Published justification
The Authority has determined that the variation agreement constitutes a direct award under the Procurement Act 2023 (the "Act"). The Authority is relying on the following the direct award justifications set out in Schedule 5 of the Act for the purposes of the award of this variation agreement: 1. Continuity and integration of existing services The Services to be provided under the variation agreement are a more…
continuation of the Services currently delivered by Kier under the ISC. The direct award is intended to ensure continuity of service in respect of the operation and maintenance of the Birmingham highway network, which is a critical public service. The Authority has determined that a change of supplier and immediate replacement of Kier as the incumber supplier would give rise to incompatibility, and such incompatibility would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in the operation and maintenance of the Service which would give rise to a material risk to service continuity. 2. Urgency and interim nature of the arrangement The need for the variation agreement to ensure the continuation of the Services currently delivered by Kier has arisen as a result of circumstances outside of the Authority's control, resulting from the Department of Transport's decision to withdraw its support for the continued funding for the Authority's highways PFI project. The Authority considers that the direct award was strictly necessary for reasons of extreme and unavoidable urgency to ensure continuity of a critical public service while it undertakes the steps required to develop and procure a longer-term solution and the continued safety of the public in accordance with the Authority's statutory duties. The Authority has determined that it would not be possible to run a competitive procurement process to procure a supplier which could ensure such continuity of service in the timeframes available. The variation agreement with Kier is therefore intended to operate as a temporary measure pending the completion of a procurement process for a replacement solution to the Authority's highways PFI project. The Authority will shortly provide further information concerning the procurement of the replacement solution and the opportunities this will present to the market.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics — not a forecastAwards 1
Awarded value £120,000,0001 award exc. VAT
Contracts signed 1latest 31 Jul 2026
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| KIER TRANSPORTATION LIMITED, Kier Constructionjoint award1 Aug 2026 — 31 Jul 2028 · up to 30 Apr 2029Extensions: This includes option to extend for a further 9 months subject to funding availability and satisfactory performance. | £120,000,000 | 21 Jul 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · KIER TRANSPORTATION LIMITED, Kier Construction
- Signed
- 31 Jul 2026
- Value
- £120,000,000
- Period
- 1 Aug 2026 — 31 Jul 2028 · up to 30 Apr 2029 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- Subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability.
3 agreed KPIs: Cat 1 and urgent faults attend and make safe on time (%) · Cat 1 and urgent faults full repair carried out on time (%) · In-Light repairs carried out within time (%)
- Cat 1 and urgent faults attend and make safe on time (%) — The ISC, as novated from BHL to the Authority, incorporates existing key performance indicators, set out in Schedule 25 (Incentivisation Schedule) to Contract Schedule D (Scope provided by the Client) of the ISC, that were established as part of the original competitively procured contract and which remain in force between the Authority and Kier. The Authority considers that these existing KPIs are appropriate for the continued provision of the Services during the term of the variation agreement, having been developed through a competitive procurement process conducted in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Given the interim nature of the variation agreement, the Authority has determined that it would be disproportionate and potentially disruptive to service continuity to renegotiate performance measures when adequate KPIs, against which Kier's performance will continue to be measured, are already in place. In accordance with section 53(3) of the Procurement Act 2023, the Authority will publish the full ISC (including details of all applicable KPIs) within 90 days of the date of the variation agreement, subject only to the redaction of sensitive commercial information and personal data.
- Cat 1 and urgent faults full repair carried out on time (%)
- In-Light repairs carried out within time (%)
Notice history
5 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Jul 2026- Contract details notice published21 Sept 2026, 16:20 BSTUK7
- Contract award notice published3 Sept 2026, 07:28 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected31 Jul 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract award notice published21 Jul 2026, 09:44 BSTUK6
- Transparency notice published17 Jul 2026, 16:48 BSTUK5
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2026-07: 1 release · 17 Jul 2026
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the notice- KIER CONSTRUCTION LIMITEDAwarded supplier
- KIER TRANSPORTATION LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (7)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Conflict of interest declarationNot published
- Signed contract
- Signed contract
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender