Roads and street lighting (UK)

Connect Roads, which manages highways schemes and street lighting projects, also performed strongly in 2008.

It has £149m of committed equity investment, including £86m at preferred bidder stage.

Connect Roads’ expertise ranges from initial planning and design, feasibility and environmental studies, through to construction and ongoing maintenance.

The existing road concessions performed well in 2008.

During the year, Connect Plus, a consortium comprising Balfour Beatty (40%), Skanska (40%), Atkins (10%) and Egis Projects SA (10%), was appointed preferred bidder for the PPP contract to provide additional capacity and to maintain the M25. The substantial programme will focus on adding capacity to 63 miles of the M25 and will help deliver significant improvements to one of the UK’s busiest and most important roads.

At the end of 2007, Connect was awarded preferred bidder status on the Carlisle Northern Development Route, a £150m project for the design, construction and operation and maintenance of a network of roads in the area.

In street lighting, the Sunderland street lighting core investment programme has been completed and progress was made on the street lighting concessions for South Tyneside and Derby. Bids are being or have been prepared for street lighting projects in Surrey, Coventry and East Shires (Cambridgeshire/Northants).