Last updated February 17th 2021
Amey UK Plc
Amey is a major provider of services to the public and regulated sectors with significant businesses in transport and infrastructure.
The company is currently a subsidiary of Ferrovial, a major Spanish construction and airports group, which employs over 67,000 worldwide and owns Heathrow Airport.
Based in Oxford, Amey works across the UK with a turnover at continuing businesses of around £1.9 billion and employs some 16,000 people. After a restructuring, it operates through three divisions Transport Infrastructure (covering rail, highways and waste collections), Secure Infrastructure (facilities management, defence and justice) and Consulting Services. The group’s utilities and environmental services businesses are earmarked for disposal.
Today, the group’s Spanish parent company is planning to sell its services portfolio, which includes Amey, although the company believes it will have no contractual implications.
Key services which the company provides include consulting, highways infrastructure, waste management, rail infrastructure, transport services, property and facilities management, aviation services, asset management, justice services, street cleansing, defence services and schools management. The firm works with more than 16 local authorities, including Sheffield and Staffordshire and clients include Highways England, United Utilities, Network Rail, the MoD, the MoJ, Metropolitan Transport Authority in New York and Australia’s Roads and Maritime Services.
In early 2020, Amanda Fisher was appointed as CEO; she was previously MD of Amey’s facilities management, defence and justice business and has held posts with other majors in the sector such as Balfour Beatty and Alfred McAlpine. In the group’s annual report published in late June 2020, she said Amey had a strong order book and was operating in solid markets and whilst the company expected markets to remain tough it saw an improving trajectory. Covid had created challenges but the firm had kept large parts of the business fully operational.
In summer 2020, Peter Anderson, formerly chief operating officer at Murphy Group and MD HS2 joint venture at Balfour Beatty, was appointed managing director of the group’s transport infrastructure business.
Financials
To view the financials for Amey UK plc go to Companies House and use Company ID 04736639
Amey UK’s results for the year to December 2019 suggest it is overcoming some long-running problem contracts. Group revenue on continuing operations rose by 21% to £1.9 billion from £1.5 billion and operating profit on continuing operations, before exceptional items was £63 million, down from £70 million previously and giving a margin of 3.4%, down from 4.5%. But losses from discontinued businesses and exceptional charges took a heavy toll and overall, the group reported a total loss after tax of £217.5 million, compared to a loss of £388 million previously. The group ended the year with cash and cash equivalents of £86.3 million, down from £164.33 million.
Highways
Amey’s highways business manages and maintains road and street lighting for around 16 local authorities as well as Highways England, Transport NI and Transport Scotland. In 2019, it reported operating revenues of £395.8 million.
In late 2020, Amey was awarded the £180m Area 12 Maintenance and Response contract by Highways England; an eight-year contract worth £22.5m per annum starting in summer 2021 and providing all routine and cyclic maintenance on the trunk roads and motorway network across Yorkshire and Humberside. Other recent key contract mobilisations include a £325 million, 15 year Highways England maintenance and response contract for Area 10 in the North West.
Meanwhile in a jv with Sir Robert McApine, the group has started work on a scheme at jct 19 of the M6 and agreed a second scheme through the delivery integration partnership with Highways England. In summer 2020, Highways England and Amey Sir Robert McAlpine (AmeySRM) signed a £23 million contract for works on the A533 Expressway Bridge Replacement scheme in the North West.
Amey has also won the £30 million Stafford West Access Route and is working with Trafford Council to unlock funds worth £160 million for cycling and walkways infrastructure.
Amey also operates a maintenance & response contract for Area 7 for Highways England worth up to £300 million over 15 years on routes from Northants to Lincs. It also maintains stretches of the M1, M69, M45 and M6.
In summer 2020, Amey won a specialist bridge inspection and maintenance contract for Avonmouth and Severn Bridges by Highways England; a 15-year contract, worth £16 million pa and covering the M5 Avonmouth Bridge, the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge and the Gwent Viaduct.
In Scotland, Amey was named as the new provider to maintain and improve the motorways and trunk roads across the south west region for Transport Scotland from August 2020 in a £400m contract to run for at least eight years.
Meanwhile, in late 2020, Amey won a major project for Wakefield Council, installing over 43,000 LED streetlights across the district over the next three years. Amey has also recently won a contract with City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council to upgrade the street lighting worth around £35 million over the next four years.
Facilities Management, Justice & Defence
Amey delivers and maintains infrastructure, assets and services to key public sector clients, notably the Ministries of Justice and Defence. Revenues rose to £1,027 million in 2019 up from £739 million previously. During 2019, Amey won projects worth £400 million across the prison and defence estates.
The division provides FM services to around 10,000 buildings and some 100,000 homes across the UK. Amey has been given extensions on its four regional prime contracts by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, which were originally let to Carillion/Amey in 2015.
Amey manages and maintains around 23,000 buildings and 26 airfields for the MoD and accomodation for 45,000 services families. In late 2019, Amey won a Defence Infrastructure Organisation contract to deliver FM and project work at five United States Visiting Forces locations; at RAF Alconbury, Molesworth, Croughton, Fairford and other smaller sites together with the management of around 250 service family homes. Meanwhile, Amey is one of six shortlisted FM providers for the next round of UK defence projects, the Future Defence Infrastructure Services.
In late 2020, over 150 new employees joined Amey’s Secure Infrastructure business, as part of a five-year contract to provide facilities and asset management across Highways England’s 41 sites under a £40 million contract.
Consulting and Rail
Amey is one of the UK’s main rail systems contractors, particularly in track, signalling and electrification systems. Amey has a strong relationship with Network Rail and in 2014 began as the operator for the Docklands Light Railway in a jv with Keolis. The division reported revenues of £726 million in 2019 and had a strong year on winning new business worth £292 million.
Wins included a £15 million contract on Network Rail’s intelligent infrastructure programme, a £70 million remodelling rail contract at Brent Cross & Cricklewood and a £34 million investment in stations between London and Corby as well as £45 million Network Rail’s £45 million minor signalling framework.
A £5 billion transformation programme of the Wales and Borders network through a KeolisAmey joint venture is underway and is set to create 500 jobs over the next five years. Amey opened a new consulting hub in Cardiff in 2019
Amey also won a £10 million contract with Leicestershire Cty. Council’s Midlands Highways Alliance and the masterplanning and design for Glasgow Airport’s improvement.
In summer 2020, Amey Consulting with Capita was appointed by Highways England to its specialist professional & technical services 2 on Lot 1 to provide technical advisory and consulting services to the roads organisation over the next four years and help it to deliver £27.4bn of investment in the strategic road network. Meanwhile in late spring 2020, Amey Consulting with Arup, won the £45m A66 Northern Transpennine Design Partner contract for Highways England to help transform the A66.
In early 2021, Amey Consulting designed the UK’s first carbon neutral road improvement project – an £8m Highways England carriageway reconstruction in Cumbria.
Glenigan data
Figures from Glenigan highlight the scale and variety of Amey’s UK workload. It shows that Amey is the civils contractor on the huge £500 million power supply contract for HS2 involving new temporary sub stations for the Chiltern Tunnel South Portal where work is set to start in late 2021 and continue for 20 months (Project ID: 18279898). Glenigan data also shows that Amey Defence Services is the client on a £810,000 extension to Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth where work is set to start in summer 2021 and run for eight months (Project ID: 19244660).
Conclusion: Diversity should ensure it rides out business cycles
Like all public service providers, Amey has faced tougher times in recent years as its public sector and other clients have been forced to bear down on costs. The new management team under CEO Amanda Fisher is likely to face continuing pressure on margins. But the company remains one of the most diverse support services groups in the UK with an asset management and consulting capability across a range of sectors that should ensure it prospers in the long run. After a divisional restructuring, the group has been bolstered by a series of key contract wins particularly in roads and rail should benefit from the government’s emphasis on infrastructure spending post-Covid.
Winning work with Amey UK
Amey has a Supplier’s Portal on its website which highlights its emphasis on seeking long term sustainable partnerships and on selecting through through evaluation, measurement and review. The firm works collaboratively with suppliers to develop best value pricing and service excellence. The suppliers’ portal can be seen at http://suppliers.amey.co.uk/
The Portal includes full details on Amey’s supplier evaluation process. This involves a category manager who reviews a submission and decides on whether to include a business in the firm’s Evaluation Supplier Database. It also includes a Supplier Pre-Qualification Questionnaire.
Details of Amey’s Procurement, Health & Safety and Environmental Policies are available at its website at http://www.amey.co.uk/
Contacts:
Mike Ashford Group Head of Procurement and Supply Chain
Email: mike.ashford@amey.co.uk
Tel: 01865 713100