Shropshire Council and its contractor Multevo have won a national award for revolutionising road maintenance in Shropshire.
The Highways Awards ceremony took place on the 24th of September at the magnificent Park Plaza, Westminster Bridge. Multevo welcomed guests during their VIP Welcome Drinks Reception, and there was a great buzz in the air in anticipation of the winners being announced.
The two organisations won the Highways Award for Team of the Year, beating off competition from National Highways, WSP, Metropolitans Police – plus Westminster Council who were nominated for their work around the King’s Coronation.
The award criteria read:
“This award goes to a team of employees who have undertaken exceptional work within the public or private sector to improve/sustain the outputs or efforts of their organisation, over and above their general working activities. The award will recognise innovative and professional achievement that has had considerable impact on the organisation such as cost savings, team building, efficiency or safety.”
Multevo’s submission, Client Support Function Team – Revolutionising Highway Maintenance in Shropshire, focused on the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to exceed client expectations.
As well as self-delivering road maintenance and traffic management, Multevo take responsibility of comprehensive back-office services on behalf of Shropshire Council. This includes extensive surveys, CAD design, permit management, resident communication, scheduling and programming works, real-time recording, auditing, and compliance reporting.
Empowering an SME contractor to take on these services has resulted in a 75% reduction in repair costs, saving the Council £1.4m annually. Public satisfaction with highways has increased by 25%, as noted in the National Highway and Transport Public Satisfaction Survey.
Dan Morris, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways, said:
“With 3,206 miles of roads in the Shropshire Council area – long enough to stretch from London to New York – well-maintained highways are critical to so many aspects of life.
“We work hard with our partners and contractors to maintain the county’s road in the most effective and efficient way, and I’m delighted that the success of our innovative work with Multevo has been recognised nationally for transforming highways maintenance in the county.”
Josh Sweeney, Director of Marketing and Growth with Multevo, said:
“This is a great achievement of our collective team effort. Shropshire have been bold in working collaboratively to innovate and to gain national industry recognition in an award of this kind is testament to everyone’s hard work, we really are thrilled and extremely proud.”
Multevo have grown to become a nationwide contractor, delivering a wide range of highways, traffic management, arboriculture, civils and vegetation management services, with over 300 multi-skilled operatives.
Multevo’s turnkey approach – which encompasses self-delivered services and dedicated client support functions – has grown traction with the wider sector, with similar trials underway with other councils and contractors, proving the model’s success.
Additional Information
The Highways Awards website says: For a generation, these awards have been the most prestigious night in the highway industry’s calendar, celebrating the great and good, the individuals, teams, products and projects that have kept us moving forward.
The award submission summary stated:
“Multevo’s dedicated client support function team has revolutionised road maintenance in Shropshire, demonstrating exceptional innovation and collaboration. By introducing hybrid work methodologies and assuming comprehensive responsibilities, our team has significantly reduced costs, improved public satisfaction, and set new industry standards.
“The success of our client support function team exemplifies the potential of SME contractors to deliver Tier 1 services, fostering local economic growth and improving infrastructure. This award would recognise the remarkable achievements of a team that has truly transformed highway maintenance in Shropshire and beyond.”
